Eighth Fantasy
by Real Life Squall
Summary: Set in the FFVIII world, with characters based on some real-life people. Please R
1. Prologue - Memories of a Fantasy

Prologue

Prologue

The sight of Balamb Garden hovering in the distance was something Alex was used to. Alex Kinnhart, gunblade specialist, thought of Balamb Garden as his home, though it hadn't always been that way. Originally a student of Trabia Garden, Alex transferred when it was decimated by missiles from Galbadia, over three years ago. But the day the missiles came was still as clear as yesterday. The panic and chaos as the Garden's computers traced the incoming projectiles. The young children running from the explosions that rocked the ground itself. To watch your best friend crushed under rubble. And the pain of the dearest person you could know to die in an explosion, before your eyes. 

"Jennifer…" Her name crept into his mind. His only ever love. No, even love wasn't a strong enough word for how he felt. She had died that fateful day, without even knowing his thoughts. Why? Because he didn't have the courage to tell her. 

Alex sighed deeply. Trabia, his friend Darris, Jennifer… he shook his head. He hated it when that feeling came, reminding him of all he'd lost. 

A memory suddenly flooded back to him, one of playing Triple Triad at Trabia Garden many years ago:

Jennifer: "Another card game? I'm tired already."

Alex: "I hate sleeping. Life's too short for sleep."

Girl in Short Yellow Pinafore: "You say strange stuff, sometimes… Hey! Whoo Hoo! I win!"

Darris: "Damn, there goes my Diablos card. Ok, perhaps I'll call it a day."

Alex: "C'mon Darris. I know you ain't a quitter."

Darris: "I'm outta cards, pretty much."

Jennifer: "Yeah, right. I saw how many you had…"

Darris: "Whoa! Let go of my arm, there's no cards-"

Girl in Short Yellow Pinafore: "Ah-Ha! What's this then?"

Darris: "Um…"

Alex: "Haha.."

Memories are a part of life. Alex just wished he could put them aside, just for a while. But he knew that there'd never be another Jennifer, not even if he waited a thousand years. Nobody was like Jennifer. Everyone else was different from him and Jennifer. They were alone. Which was ok, when she was there. Now he was completely alone, for all his life.

That was what led him to become the person he was now. A loner with nothing to live for, a dangerous rogue with only a dream of seeing her again…


	2. Part I - The Galbadian Directive

Part I

Balamb garden was alive with activity. People going this way and that, students talking, playing cards; and in the nearby training area some were fighting grats and the recently added caterchipillars. In the middle of the busy thrum of people stood Alex Kinnhart. Though eighteen, he wasn't particularly tall, and he seemed to be distant from the other students, as if he was far older (or younger) than them.

Walking down the main hallway, he passed a group of three students. As he carried on, he heard them splitting into laughter.

"(Where they laughing at me? Or was it a co-incidence?)" He dared not look over his shoulder to see. He shook the thought away. Of course it was co-incidence. He hated the paranoid side of him that would have him believe everyone hated and ridiculed him.

Sighing heavily, he slumped against the fountain in the center of the hallway, looking into the cafeteria across the walkway. Peering inside, he noticed a small robotic dog was being chased around the floor by a furry pink thing and a fit-looking ninja girl carrying a shuriken.

Suddenly, the sound of his name being spoken on the intercom distracted him from the scene.

"I repeat, could Alexander Kinnhart please report to Instructor Trepe in front of the Library. Thanks." The voice of Nida came.

"Oh, swell. I only just passed, and they want me for another assignment." Alex mumbled, getting to his feet. He walked around the circular fountain of the center of the Garden, looking up to see the tall female instructor glancing around.

Although Alex sometimes felt like he was the only male student at Balamb who didn't have a crush on Instructor Quistis Trepe, he nevertheless knew a beautiful woman when he saw one. Unfortunately she was twenty-two going on sixty, most of the time. Besides… tall, high-ranking girls weren't his type.

"Good morning Alex." She said plainly as he walked up to her.

"Morning Instructor Trepe." Alex said in monotone. "You asked to see me?"

Quistis smiled. "Straight to business, like a workaholic SeeD. Just like someone else I know…" She glanced away.

"Yeah… whatever. I have an assignment, so let me get on with it." Alex stated simply.

"Okay," the instructor grinned, seeing how serious he was, "I'll tell you what Cid has asked you to do."

Alex nodded as Quistis took a breath. "Just over three years ago you might recall Galbadia began a campaign of war that resulted in desolation at Dollet."

"Among other places." Alex said sourly.

Quistis shut her eyes for a brief moment upon realising what he meant. "Yes. Well, things have been quiet around Galbadia since back then. But trouble is brewing now that a dangerous Galbadian National has been elected to run things. A former Anti-Esthar Terrorist named Janson Labeck."

"What does this have to do with the desolation at Dollet?" Alex enquired.

"Well, the authorities at Dollet obviously don't want a re-run of the invasion they suffered, and have dispatched a special agent to keep watch on their neighbour. But she recently stopped sending regular updates and seems to have gone missing. We want you to go and find out what happened to her and bring her back. 

In addition, Dollet are requesting we put Labeck out of the picture. We refuse to assassinate, so you'll be taking him down with poison ammunition during his speech tonight in Deling city. It will cause him to fall ill for a long time and he'll be out of politics."

"How do you expect me to take him out with poison rounds? I have a Gunblade." Alex shrugged.

"We don't. Alex, meet our firearm and explosives expert..." The instructor gestured toward a girl standing not so far away at the doorway to the Library. She stood relaxed, pistols holstered by her sides and a bright smile on her face. Quistis nodded and she walked up to them.

"Liana Heartilmitt, nice to meetcha." She beamed.

"Likewise." Alex smiled as they shook hands.

"She's possibly our best gunfighter, and you'd never know a more accurate sniper." Quistis complimented. Such words were unusual from Instructor Trepe, so when they were said they meant a lot more.

"Aww, thankyou Miss Trepe." Liana grinned.

"So where do we start looking for this agent?" Alex asked the instructor.

"You leave on the Ragnarok in half an hour, which will fly you to just outside Deling city. You must make your way into the city and start looking. She'll only respond to the code phrase 'Seventh Heaven'." Quistis explained.

"Alrighty…" Liana nodded.

"What's her name?" Alex asked curiously.

"Carlie Tirol. She's using a fake name, Tifa Lockheart, though."

"Right." Alex looked outside beyond the gate, across Fisherman's Horizon to see the docked Ragnarok in the distance. "But what are you sending me for?" He suddenly thought aloud.

"Because we need someone to cover our sniper during the whole procedure. Normally snipers work in pairs, but this situation calls for things to be done differently." The instructor replied.

"I'm the next best thing?" Alex said with a hint of depression.

"No, a gunblade specialist is. And you're the best one we have got right now." She assured him.

"Well, let's get going then!" Liana said happily.

***

The Ragnarok went searing into the clear sky, and banked sharply to go west from Fisherman's Horizon. At the end of the continent-spanning bridge was Galbadia, and Deling city beyond that. 

They'd been travelling for a while when Liana appeared inside the cockpit and began to watch the pilot, a Garden soldier.

"Can I drive?" She said bouncily.

"No." the stern man at the controls replied.

"Please."

"No."

"Go on."

"No." He answered again. "I'm the only person permitted to drive the Ragnarok."

"C'monnnn!!!" She pleaded. "Just for a second…"

"Liana?" Alex said from the doorway. "I think you'd better leave him to concentrate."

"Oh, alright." She walked over to him. "You been on this thing before?"

"Yeah…" Alex nodded.

"I ain't! It's soooo cool!" She started to shift from one foot to the other. "I mean, we're like, flying!"

"Yeah…"

"And everything is small…" She peered out of one of the windows. "Look! There's Timber coming up in the distance."

Alex looked out too. "So it is! I was born in Timber." He smiled.

"Really? I thought you were from Trabia…" Liana looked a little confused.

"Yeah, well I am. I've lived just about everywhere." He said, the smile fading as he remembered Trabia.

"Um," Liana began, trying to cheer him up by losing the subject, "are you a Treppy, by the way?"

"You mean a 'worshipper-to-all-things-Trepe'?" Alex said, and they laughed.

"I'll take it you're not. Poor Instructor Trepe though… she said they even give her a hard time, sometimes." Liana watched as they passed over Timber.

"Ooh… It must be hard being loved." Alex said. The bitterness in his voice was clear, but somehow he made it sound not too serious as to darken the conversation.

"Everybody has at least one person who loves them. You just have to remember that you won't always know who they are. At least, that's what I believe." Liana said thoughtfully.

"And you're probably right." Alex nodded with a smile.

The Ragnarok sped on until it reached the outskirts of Deling city, then proceeded to land discreetly in a forest clearing. Fortunately the Ragnarok's advanced Esthar design was able to deflect most radar.

As the craft pulled away, it left two figures and boxes behind. Alex and Liana pulled the two crates out of the clearing and into the safely concealed depths of the forest. Stopping, they looked to the supply containers.

"So what's in them?" Alex asked.

"That's items for various uses." Liana pointed to the crate she'd been dragging. "Potions, ethers, phoenix downs, eye drops and such. We even got a phoenix pinion, should we need it."

The thought of Phoenix suddenly reminded Alex. "Have you junctioned GF and magic?" He checked.

"Yep. GFs Siren and Monolithic." She affirmed, walking over to the other crate. "This one," She lifted the lid to reveal a mass of metal weapon components, "contains the parts for my rifle and other useful add-on gadgets." She took out the parts and began to snap them together. "You still have your Gunblade?"

"Yeah." Alex flipped his Gunblade up and caught it a few times, like one would with a tennis racket. "And I've junctioned GFs Ramuh and Naginata." He slid the gunblade onto a clip at his side, so his long leather coat concealed it.

"Okay, you know where we're headed."

"I do."

"Then let's rock." Liana grinned, holding up the completed sniper rifle to her eye level.

***

Kodansha Fujal knew what had to be done. She was to follow that girl. She didn't know who the girl was or why she had to follow her. But her instructions were there for a reason, and ought to be followed even if you don't really understand the whole scheme. But that wasn't quite the point. Kodansha didn't really *care* about the greater meaning of it. So what? It was interesting just trailing people anyway.

And besides, things were rarely so simple. Somehow Kodansha had lost the trail. After training nearly all her life toward her profession, she'd lost a little girl. It couldn't really be helped though: the trail came to a dead end in the middle of the Dingo Desert, Galbadia. Not a sign, not even vehicle tracks carried on. Some kind of plane? No, it would have left marks on the sand as it took off. Simply disappeared.

Standing from her stooped position at the end of the footprints in the sand, Kodansha sighed a little. She refused to return to Galbadia Garden. She *never* returned to the Garden unless she was through. There was simply no point. And she didn't want to think she'd be letting them down.

The familiar shriek of a Buel monster sounded nearby. The desert was a dangerous place, but nothing the SeeD Ninja couldn't handle. She grinned at the thought, though the expression was hidden under her face-mask.

"(Kodansha, the untouchable. Heh hee…)" She nodded to herself.

The sound of another Buel came, this time closer. But another sound followed it: a metallic weapon striking one.

Sharpening her senses, Kodansha hurried quickly toward a rock, peering over it to see where the sound was coming from. Nothing. The desert over the rocks was empty. She cursed, and then turned to slump against the rock. Was she hearing things?

***

It had begun to rain heavily in Deling city as night set in. The horizon lit up with a flash, and thunder followed shortly afterward. As with any big city, there was still a bustle of activity in the streets with cars and people hurrying through the relentless downpour. Alex and Liana stood at the foot of the Gateway, a large case in Liana's hand that contained her rifle. Having hidden the two crates outside the city, it was their only luggage besides some items in Alex's long coat.

"Damn." Alex uttered.

"What?" Liana turned her head.

"You don't think Labeck is gonna make a speech in this storm, do you? We may have to wait until tomorrow." Alex brushed his wet hair back from his face. "Not that I don't like storms, though."

"Don't forget our priority. We gotta find out what happened to Carlie Tirol." She reminded him.

Alex nodded. "Yeah, but where could she be?"

"Hence the term 'missing'." Liana said smugly.

Alex couldn't help but smile. She was right, but for some reason it hadn't occurred to him until now just how hard this was gonna be. "We're looking for an undercover agent somewhere in a capital city. I can't believe we agreed to this."

"We didn't have a choice." Liana pointed out.

Alex sighed as another roll of thunder came. "Maybe she got discovered and caught."

"By who?"

"Who else? Galbadian authorities under Labeck's new control have become far more xenophobic and suspicious. But where would the authorities keep her?" Alex pondered.

Liana leant her head back, looking up to the stormy sky. "Um… if she got found out there's a chance she's in the city prison, which is close to Caraway's Mansion. But it wouldn't be a good idea to try and bust in there unless we are totally sure that's where she is."

"Pssst!" A female voice came from behind a door in the Gateway. "You two!"

Alex turned to look into the darkness beyond the slightly ajar door. "Who's there?"

"In here, quick. Don't be seen." The voice came again.

Alex and Liana looked around quickly, then disappeared into the dark doorway one at a time. Inside was quite clearly lit.

"Hmnn... nice little place you got here." Alex said almost chattily. "A kind of seventh heaven, eh?"

The young woman smiled. "You must be the SeeDs. My name's Carlie Tirol, but you'll have to call me Tifa for now." She winked.

"Pleasure to meet you, Carlie. Name's Alex." Alex nodded.

"Heya! I'm Liana." Liana added enthusiastically.

"So how come you stopped transmitting to Dollet?" Alex asked.

"A couple of days back a police patrol discovered my location in a hotel room and raided it. Fortunately they didn't find me or uncover my identity, but my radio and other equipment was trashed. I had to lay low and eventually found this maintenance room inside the Gateway." Carlie explained. She began to climb the ladder up to the top of the room, closely followed by the two SeeDs.

"Something to eat?" Carlie asked.

"Yeah, thanks." Alex took the food Carlie offered. The three of them were quiet for a few minutes.

"So you're okay then?" Liana asked eventually.

"Yeah, I'm able to handle myself." Carlie smiled. "Nice to see the guys at Dollet made the effort to send you guys in to help me."

"Actually, we might need *your* help." Alex said. "Dollet want us to drug out Jason Labeck so he can't lead Galbadia for a while."

"I'm unarmed. What can I do?" Carlie stated.

"Watch our backs for a start." Alex stood and slid down the ladder. "Use Liana's pistols or something." He added, looking up at them as they descended the ladder.

"Yeah, I've always got Edward." Liana said to Carlie happily.

"Edward?" She replied with a frown, reaching the bottom.

"Edward the Sniper Rifle!" Liana said, holding her case up for exhibition before climbing down too.

"Your sniper ri-?" Alex's sentence trailed off as he buried his face in his palm.

"Um, thanks…" Carlie nodded, taking the pistols Liana gave to her. She still seemed unsure.

"What's wrong?" Liana asked, confused at her new friend's numb reaction.

"Let me guess… you've never used pistols before?" Alex probed.

"No, it's just that…" Carlie shrugged. "I'm not too good with them."

Alex walked over and stood beside her. "You grip the handle… a little more like this…" He held her hand and guided her fingers into place on the weapon. "See?" He looked up at her face.

"Yeah…" She nodded, looking back.

"It reduces re-coil and makes aiming a little easier if you suppress it by placing your other hand at the bottom…" Alex took her other hand and placed it as he'd described.

"That feels nice." Carlie agreed with another nod.

"I think she gets the picture." Liana stated, smiling a little.

"Um.. yeah." Alex nodded, moving away and toward the door.

"So… what's the plan?" Carlie shrugged.

Alex took a glance out of the doorway, and then turned to look at them both. "The storm has cleared. Labeck will be staging a speech before Deling city citizens tonight. We need to get Liana to a position where she can fire her poison bullet, but still have an escape opportunity."

"The speech is bound to be in front of the Gateway, so we may already have the perfect position." Carlie commented.

"Too predictable." Liana shook her head. "And it doesn't really leave us any method of escape."

"We don't have a lot of other options." Alex folded his arms.

"I can hit him from Esthar if I have to…" Liana joked.

"The Train Station might be a good spot. Or at least, on top of it." Carlie suggested.

"Yeah, we could escape by train." Alex nodded slowly. "And Liana should be able to hit him from there."

"Sure I will!!" Liana bounced. "But how will we get on a train?"

"Timing is everything." Alex smiled. "We just have to hit Labeck as a train is leaving…"

Liana's eyes went wide, wider than most would believe actually possible. "You don't mean we jump onto a train from the top of the Train Station?"

"That's exactly what I mean." Alex nodded seriously.

"You must be kidding!" Carlie shook her head.

In the distance, the sounds of a crowd grew a little louder.

"Sounds like they're already converging. We probably don't have much time." Alex's expression was anxious.

"Okay, I'm not backing out of this. I'm doing it for Dollet!" Carlie declared.

Alex gave Liana an encouraging look. "Liana?"

"Whadda ya mean? I'm in, obviously! I'm a SeeD!! Got nothing to worry about, whoo hoo, yeah." O.O

"Right…" Alex sighed as they left the Gateway toward the Train station.

***

Night had enveloped the Dingo Desert and Kodansha stalked the darkness in a relentless search for the mysterious young girl and where she'd gone. She'd been walking for some time and already fought countless Buels. They irritated her; they were weak, had no interesting magic and were little fun to actually fight.

Suddenly her sharp eyes caught a footprint in the sand a couple of metres away. Looking around carefully, she approached it and took a closer look. There were more around it, and small flicks taken out of the sand were also recognisable in the moonlight. Only a Buel makes flicks across the sand as its wings clip the ground. And the person who'd left the footprints had been running. Maybe she hadn't been hearing things.

"(The young girl perhaps?)" Kodansha thought carefully. "(No, these steps look too far apart. It was more likely somebody older. But who else would be out here?)"

She stood and looked from side to side. There was somebody else in this desert, and they had also made short work of the Buels. There was a slight rumble, as the ground seemed to lurch.

"(What the hell is going on?)" Kodansha thought to herself, shaking her head.

She quickly began to make her way to a distant formation of rocks, keeping quiet so as not to attract any Fastitocalon things. They were annoying too. 

As she reached the rocks the ground rumbled again, only louder this time.

"(What *is* that?)" She thought, pausing for a moment.

***

Alex, Liana and Carlie pushed their way through the crowd surrounding the pedestal, that Janson Labeck was due to appear on at any moment. Blue and metal uniformed Galbadian soldiers were everywhere. Moving around the back of the Train Station's main building, they began to walk down a dark alleyway.

"Halt and surrender!" A voice called out from the darkness behind them. Alex had whirled around, drawn his Gunblade and pointed it at the man's silhouette, before he'd barely finished the sentence. "Not likely." He said.

"Be warned thief. We are SeeD." Liana called out, looking around.

"Hehe, very good… I look forward to gunblade duels! They are a rare pleasure." The grinning figure stepped into a dim light. He was a tall young man, dressed in a jacket. He drew his own gunblade.

Alex braced himself and kept his eyes on the enemy. "Run. Do the mission. There's no time for us to fight him."

Without a pause Liana nodded and left quickly, climbing the ladder on the side of the building to reach the roof, with Carlie right behind her.

Alex rested his Gunblade on his shoulder, and pointed to his enemy. "So you have a Gunblade too?"

"Yes, and you probably know why." The mysterious man replied.

"I don't really care…" Alex shrugged.

"Don't you remember me Alex?…"

"What? I don't know you at all…" Alex shook his head.

"You've only forgotten…" The man tormented him.

"Who are you?!" Alex demanded.

"Let's see how good you've become…" The attacker ignored Alex's question, charging toward him.

Alex held his Gunblade up to block the attack. The blades met with a shriek of metal, and he pushed his opponent back. With a growl, the attacker struck out again and again; and although Alex blocked them, the ferocity knocked him back.

"You aren't trying…" the stranger taunted.

Alex ran toward him with a cry, throwing his strength into the Gunblade's swing and bearing down on his opponent. The blades met loudly once again as his enemy blocked the attack. Alex swung at him twice more, his opponent dodging both times. The opponent drew back his weapon to counterattack but Alex made a surprising third slash diagonally. The attacker barely managed to block it in time, and it caused both combatants to stumble backwards.

"I'll grant you, your style is good." The mystery man chuckled.

"Just shut up and hit me." Alex retorted, launching forward into another attack. Metal met metal in a series of clashes and clangs as the pair struggled for victory. The attacker swiped down, but Alex dodged and cut into his enemy's arm. At that moment, he pulled the trigger.

*THUNK-KACHANG!*

The bullet dug into the wound, and the mysterious attacker fell to his knees.

"You won't beat me next time." He cursed.

"You're not quite beaten, and there won't be a next time." Alex stated, pointing his Gunblade at the attacker.

"Foolish…" Suddenly the figure leapt away, into the shadows. Then he was gone.

Alex stepped away, watching the darkness closely, and wiped the sweat from his brow.

"Whatever." He said quietly.

***

Liana knelt down and took her rifle from the case. She fitted the two parts of it together and clicked the sight-scope into position. Resting the very end of the long barrel on the edge of the wall around the top of the roof, she took a glance down the scope. Carlie watched around behind to make sure she wasn't sneaked on, taking occasional glances at what Liana was up to.

"Let's get him Edward…" Liana grinned, taking sight of her target as Carlie chuckled. The central pedestal was still empty.

"Won't the Galbadians realise Labeck was hit by a sniper and trace the origin of the bullet or something?" Carlie whispered.

"No, these are special bullets. I have three poison dart rounds; each one is barely noticeable when it enters the skin. And once it's in, it's almost un-detectable as the projectile dissolves in biological fluids like blood or whatever." Liana explained, her eyes still on the target area. "Only the poison capsule remains, which squirts out venom every couple of days. Labeck will keep falling ill for a few weeks."

"Pretty sick, really…" Carlie shook her head.

"Ya." Liana nodded a little.

Carlie paused. "Um… That just surprises me. I mean, you seem so happy-go-lucky and everything. Just seems very odd for a sniper."

"Well, I'm a gunfighter really, but I do lots of everything. But a lot of people tell me that."

"Does Alex think that?" Carlie reminded herself to keep her voice low mid-sentence.

"Dunno. Probably." Liana was still watching the pedestal. "I get the impression he's not the sort of person who expresses himself often."

"Hang on, somebody's coming!" Carlie held the pistol she was carrying at a shifting shadow at the top of the ladder.

"It's me guys, Alex."

"Oh, phew. You had me kinda jumpy." Carlie gave a short sigh.

"Labeck's speech begins at eight o'clock. The only train for another hour leaves at eight o'clock. This could be really tricky." Alex said quietly as he reached them.

"Hang on… he's coming up behind the stage…" Liana muttered.

The whistle of the Train echoed slightly in the background.

"Come on. We'll have to start running." Carlie said. "Hurry."

"Shushhh!" Liana hissed. The hum of a staring engine sounded from beneath them.

"Carlie, let's stand at the other end of the roof to jump on the train, Liana can follow." Alex said, running with her.

Liana closed in on Labeck, the complex display in the sight giving her all the information she needed, including a countdown to eight o'clock. Thirty-nine seconds left. She just had to hit Labeck from backstage.

Alex and Carlie came to a stop at the other end of the roof. Alex looked at his watch. He hoped the Trains in Galbadia were as late as everywhere else. Alas, the hiss of released air brakes came from beneath as a long dark shape began to move away very slowly.

Twenty seconds left. Liana had Janson in her sight, and wasn't going to get a better shot. With a deep breath, she pulled the trigger. A hundredth of a second later she saw her target wince a little. The bullet was in and Labeck was out.

Ten seconds left on her sight-scope display. She stood, trying to run while desperately folding the rifle back into its case. Slamming the case shut, she set her sights for the far end of the Train station roof.

Alex watched the dark shape of the train gather speed a little as it started to pass beneath them. Five seconds. Carlie slid off the roof and landed onto the train in a roll. She looked up with bright, anxious eyes as Alex did the same. As soon as he'd landed, he began to run down the carriages to the end of the train. His watch made a beep to signify eight o'clock. The train accelerated more as Liana appeared at the edge and threw herself toward it. Reaching the back, Alex held his hands out and caught Liana's arms as the end of the train pulled away. Alex pulled her up onto the roof before they were seen. Dazed, relaxed as Carlie came running down the carriage.

"You guys alright?" She asked.

Both Alex and Liana seemed exhausted, but a smile slowly appeared on Liana's face. "Yeah… we're SeeDs… nuthin' to worry about."

"Absolutely." Alex ran his hand through his hair before standing and taking his serious tone again. "Looks like we got away with it, Labeck is taken care of and Carlie's safe."

"So who's gonna keep watch on Deling now?" Liana pointed out.

"Without Labeck's leadership that shouldn't be necessary." Carlie assured. "I'm sure the people who sent me will sort that out in any case. Where's this train headed?"

"The station near Dollet." Alex told them. "We're meeting up with the Garden there."

Carlie nodded and sat down. Liana moved over slightly to make space.

"Ouch!" she shifted herself slightly. "I sat on a rivet." O.O

"I can see this is gonna be a rough ride home…" Alex grinned.

"Yeah, I just hope there ain't any real low bridges…" Carlie added.

***

The ground rumbled again. Kodansha still couldn't tell what it was, and she wasn't sure which direction she was going anymore. The clouds had made navigation by stars hopeless and the twisting patterns of sand and rock all looked the same. But then, she'd never been out in a desert before. There was nobody better at concealment in cities and that, but when it came to a desert there wasn't a lot of opportunity for surprise. You could spot a Geezard in time to boil a kettle, make a coffee and read a book before it reached you. It was just a load of… flat. With some rocks.

Kodansha grew tired. The whole day and half the night of searching, yet she still had nothing. Was she tracking a sorceress perhaps, with the ability of teleportation? No, why would she walk out into the desert to teleport somewhere…?

"(Maybe she's just some kinda phantom.)" Kodansha thought. "(No, that's just being stupid.)"

A sudden sound of rock grinding against rock alerted the SeeD to a disturbance behind her. Looking up the pile of boulders she had passed, she saw some small stones tumbling to the bottom.

"(They are trying to sneak up on me, perhaps?)" Kodansha suggested to herself. She turned around again upon hearing a growl and came face to face with a huge worm like creature that had burst out of the ground.

Leaping back and drawing her small sword, she eyed the odd creature.

"What are you?" She said rhetorically.

"Giant Desertworm." A female voice came as a young woman slightly older-looking than Kodansha ran up beside her.

"Who the hell are you?" Kodansha didn't even look round.

"My name is Juri-shai Kisatine," the young woman replied, holding her weapon in an attacking stance and watching the creature, "But you can call me Juri."

Kodansha didn't reply, she drew up her hand and cast 'blizzard', and moments later a ball of ice smashed into the Desertworm.

Juri grinned and leapt forward, her 'Oniyari' cutting a harsh blow into the creature. Suddenly, it fell dead.

Kodansha eyed Juri curiously. "How did you do that?"

The mysterious woman held up her spear-like weapon. "This is an Oniyari, or 'ghost spear'. It has the essence of dead spirits encased within it, and can sometimes steal the soul of what it hits, inflicting instant death."

"Effective." Kodansha commented simply.

"I like it." Juri nodded with a smile.

Kodansha was silent again.

"So…" Juri began. "You seemed lost. Who are you, and what are you doing wandering Dingo Desert?"

"None of your business." Kodansha began to walk away.

"That was the way you came." Juri remarked.

Kodansha turned around. "I don't do deserts. Let me stumble on my own, thank you very frickin' much."

"You may need my help." Juri suggested.

"No, I won't." Kodansha continued to walk.

Juri hurried along to walk beside her. "That Desertworm could've been a problem. I wonder if you'd ha-"

"Quit following me." Kodansha snapped.

"I'm not following you, I'm conversing and you're walking away." Juri explained.

"Then shut up."

"Foolish girl." Juri commented. "I have information you might find useful, too."

Kodansha stopped and exhaled deeply. "Okay, what?" she sounded fed up.

"You're looking for a young girl, aren't you?" Juri asked.

"So what if I am?"

"I know where she went, if you'll just come along." Juri sounded a little tired too.

"Okay…" Kodansha nodded as they began to walk.

"She actually left in some kind of Esthar hover vehicle." Juri elaborated.

"That would explain why it left no trail." The SeeD ninja nodded.

"Her name is Annie Tilgari. A magic bandit, she steals by drawing magic from people, and that skimmer is her escape method. She's good; I've been watching her for some time. Unfortunately I can never get to her in time to stop her."

"That's what you do?" Kodansha frowned.

"I'm a Shadow Hunter. I search for and destroy the monsters that infested the world after the last Lunar Tear, and I'm currently working for Winhill. I try and help people if I can." Juri replied honestly.

"I'm a ninja from SeeD. Name's Kodansha."

"Right." Juri nodded with a grin.

"Have you any idea where she was headed?" Kodansha asked.

"Well, with her skimmer, she might be going for the Centra continent…" Juri mused.

"Then we may need something to follow her with." Kodansha thought aloud.

The pair remained silent as they continued to walk southeast…

***

Alex, Carlie and Liana walked along the path to Dollet, having left the train when it reached the nearby station. They had almost reached the towns edge when Liana remembered the crates in the forest.

"That's some valuable equipment." She nodded.

"Yeah, Garden got a soldier in to retrieve it. I think his name's Tim." Alex said neutrally, keeping his eyes down and ahead.

"Oh, I know Tim." Liana nodded. "What are you going to do when you get home then?" she asked Carlie, who walked between them.

"Get some rest, and see if Dollet still need me for anything. I think they said something about sending aid to Winhill." The agent replied thoughtfully.

"What's happened at Winhill?" Alex queried.

"Haven't you heard?" Liana sounded surprised. "There's been some big monsters around there. More of these weird things that have made their way across from Esthar over the past couple of years."

"Winhill has requested SeeD, Dollet Independent Army, Esthar… they're in bad shape." Carlie added with a mournful nod.

"They've grown a bit these past years though…" Alex said, thinking aloud as he often did.

"Not quite enough to fight Esthar monsters." Liana shook her head.

"At least Esthar should be able to deal with them." Carlie smiled brightly.

"Yeah!! And we can go kick butt too after this, eh Alex?"

"Um, that depends on what Balamb Garden say." Alex told Liana, and then paused as he thought. "Hang on, what do mean by 'we'?"

Liana chuckled. "I mean WE! You don't have to keep doing things on your own!"

"It's no big deal, just how I always work." Alex replied with a dark face.

"You're no fun." Liana pouted jokingly.

Alex sighed, a smile beginning to creep across his face. "Alright. I'll stick around."

"Good." Liana smiled as they reached the gates into Dollet. The huge shape of Balamb Garden docked at the port seemed to fill the harbour and dwarf the moored ships alongside it. They walked down the road to the waterfront and reached the turning between the town center and the harbour.

"Well… this is where I say my goodbyes." Carlie turned to them, trying to smile happily.

"We'll miss you sooo much! Come back and see us!!" Liana was bouncing, but a tear was beginning to form in her eyes.

"Now don't you worry. I'll write." Carlie replied.

"Take care of yourself, Carlie." Alex said trying to smile.

"You too. It was so nice to meet you both, and I won't forget you. Not in a thousand years."

"I don't like saying goodbye!" Liana's eyes were watery.

"We'll be thinking of you too Carlie." Alex said sadly.

Carlie nodded. "Goodbye…" She turned and walked up the road toward Dollet's Intelligence Headquarters.

"Byaa!" Liana called after her, sniffing.

"C'mon, let's get back to the Garden." Alex said as they slowly began to walk toward the docks.

***

Open flat countryside and fields of flowers went on as far as Carlie could see around her. For some reason there were oddly clothed people running past her, all in the same direction. Then without warning, the ground began to shudder as a thunderous roar grew louder, and Carlie could barely stand up with all the vibrations. She turned around to the noise, and was greeted with the sight of at least a dozen huge machines floating across the sky effortlessly. Each of them was a little different from the other, but they all looked a bit like Balamb Garden and were roughly the same size. They were all going somewhere. 

She held her hands over her ears with the deafening thrum, and turned to watch them as they passed over her. It was as if she was an ant watching human soldiers march to war. Suddenly, a beam seemed to lance from the very far horizon, cutting into one of the flying Garden-like machines, sending it drifting toward the ground in flames. Straight where Carlie was standing. She began to run but the shadow was already upon her and many of the screaming crowd. Closing her eyes, she curled up and waited for what was coming…

Carlie opened her eyes and sat bolt upright in her bed. Her breathing was heavy and irregular, and sweat ran off her forehead. She looked at the time, her clock flashed up 2:40 a.m. 

"(What an awfully weird dream. I'll have to tell Liana and Alex…)" She thought, before lying down and slowly drifting back to sleep.


	3. Part II - Garden's New Pursuit

Part I

Liana opened her eyes and slowly sat up, checking the time on her alarm clock. Six o'clock in the morning. It was unusual for her to be up this early. Standing into her comfy-fitting boots and looking out of the half-open window, she noticed dawn breaking across the beautiful horizon beyond Dollet's harbour.

"(True beauty is something everyone can find wonder in…)" she thought to herself. It was something Alex had said, and the words had been turning over in her head for some reason.

A seagull flew past the window of her quarters, and she smiled as a speck of light slowly grew into the sun beyond the edge of the sea. The excitement of a new day filled her with a positive energy, and the chilly breeze from outside refreshed her.

Walking out of her quarters, wearing a smile even brighter than her white tank top and skirt, she began to head for the Library. She needed to find something to do until the cafeteria was open. The Garden was scheduled to leave Dollet and return to Balamb at noon, and she'd also considered having one more look around Dollet.

As she walked across the clean main hallway she noticed a number of students were up and around. Then she noticed one of them was Alex.

"Heya." She smiled as she came up behind him. "Up early?"

"I hate waking up late." Alex nodded. "And I'm guessing you never sleep."

Liana chuckled. "Not quite, I'm just energetic."

A boy wearing garden military uniform and a little shorter than Alex walked up to them.

"Hi Tim." Liana smiled.

Tim gave her a brief look. "Oh. It's _you_."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Liana pouted.

"You tried to poison my moogle!" Tim replied.

"I did not!" Liana protested. "Well, maybe I helped it not feel well… but, ahh… don't you know they're out to kill us all?!!"

"My moogle is very nice." Tim shook his head.

"Can we lose the moogle subject?" Alex interrupted gruffly.

"Oh, yeah." Tim agreed, turning to him. "Anyway, my name's Tim, if ya haven't guessed yet. I'm off to pick up those things you guys left after your mission."

"Taking the Ragnarok?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, it's the only thing that can get in and out un-noticed. So to save ourselves wasting a journey, I'm gonna do a bit of sight-seeing around Deling city." Tim explained. "Might be a day or two. I'm taking my girlfriend there."

"Have fun. And don't forget your moogle." Liana said darkly.

"Oh, I won't…" Tim scowled back, before walking off toward the dorms.

Alex and Liana remained quite for a moment.

"So…" Liana said, turning to Alex. "The Cafeteria opens at eight. I was gonna go to the Library for a while, but I think I might take one more little wander around Dollet. You wanna come too?" She smiled.

"Um…" Alex looked at the floor. "That'd be really nice but I need to do some training this morning."

"Okay." Liana smiled and began to walk toward the front gate. "See ya later then."

"Right." Alex finally smiled back.

Liana walked down the ramp from the huge Garden to the docks of Dollet, then up the pier to the edge of the town. It was fairly early, so only a few people were about. She decided to head for the center of town to look at the shops. 

She'd once heard that shops in Dollet are open at all times of day, and was surprised to find this true. Even the marketplace was beginning to fill with early shoppers, and one stall had started a competition. People were gathering around it as the sun rose higher. Liana made her way toward the stall, looking at her watch to see it was already past seven. When she looked at the sign for the stall, her face lit up in a huge smile. It was a shooting competition! 

The attendant at the stall cleared his throat loudly before explaining the rules. "To win, the competitor must hit the target twenty times with the highest possible accuracy."

A young man stood at the edge of the range, a cocky smile on his face. He turned to the crowd and held up his pistols.

"Okay, now watch a pro." He grinned. He whirled around to face the targets with drawn pistols and let off a volley of shots that cut holes out of the target. A computer sensor added up the hits, and the assistant smiled.

"Mr Almiroth scores eighty two point one per cent accuracy. Quite incredible!" He nodded. "Anyone wish to challenge?"

Liana pushed through the crowd and slapped a hundred gil on the assistant's table. "I will." She smiled.

"Okay, lady." The man nodded again. "Go ahead."

Liana drew her own two pistols and walked up to the target range, looking across to the target calmly. She stopped and stood sideways on, pistols at the ready.

"Don't forget to take the safety off, little girl." A shout came.

Liana made a determined expression somewhere between a scowl and a smile.

"Okay, you've got a maximum time limit of twenty five seconds, beginning the moment you hit the target." The assistant informed her. Liana nodded, then breathed out slowly.

Suddenly she held up her left pistol and let off a shot, then whirled her right arm behind her back and let off another, then span around and fired another, hooked her right hand behind her head and fired another from there and continued as the crowd watched in amazement. Liana let off shot after shot from an imaginative variety of stances, each one seeming to hit the target right in the middle.

As the smoke from the guns cleared, she smiled in satisfaction at the burrowed hole in the center of the target.

"That's incredible…" The assistant stared at the computer. "Ninety six point three per cent accurate. You really are something, girl!" He began to clap, as did the observing people around them. Liana relaxed and put her pistols in the holsters, looking at the target. "Well it deserved it for being such a meanie little target." She grinned.

***

Carlie walked into the Garden's front gate, and looked around. It was only about eight o'clock in the morning, but already the Garden was busy. Where would Liana and Alex be? She walked up to a tall man standing at the central fountain. He was wearing a long beige-coloured leather overcoat and a fedora hat, and looked fairly bored.

"Hi, do you know Liana or Alex? I'm looking for them." She said.

The man smiled at her. "Hey, I don't remember them. But that doesn't mean we can't be friends, eh?" He winked. 

Suddenly there was a shout from across the hall and a short young woman in a bright yellow pinafore ran up to him.

"Irvine! Can't leave you on your own, can I?" She giggled, and grabbed his arm. "Common', I wanna go to Dollet." She added with a smile.

"Alright, Sefie. Gotta go babe. See you another time..." He shrugged with a smile as the young woman led him off.

Carlie waved back with her fingertips. "Yeah, bye…" She said with a freaked expression. "(Man, this place is nuts.)" she thought, brushing her hair behind her ear and looking around. She suddenly caught sight of something going on in the training area.

Alex ran up and smacked the caterchipillar with his gunblade and rolled away to avoid the counterattack of its accomplice, an imp. He stood and held his right hand back over his left shoulder, glittering light appearing as a bolt of lightning lanced the imp from nowhere. The caterchipillar was not a problem, but he'd never seen an imp in the training center. Now he could be in trouble, and it would be his fault. 'Never enter the training center alone', Instructor Trepe always said. But he preferred training alone. There won't always be somebody there to help you, after all.

The caterchipillar struck out at him and knocked him over. He rolled as the imp cast fire, causing the ground to erupt in flames where Alex had lay a moment before. He rolled backward onto his feet and stood again, charging at the imp. The metallic clank and thundering shot as he struck the monster was satisfying, and the imp was flung backward by the ferocity. Seeing it's chance, the Caterchipillar moved toward Alex, ready to strike.

Carlie appeared, running forward to begin casting her magic. Suddenly the two humans felt themselves fade away… Carlie was using a GF!

Experiencing a GF is something most people have to train for, as it can be disorientating. There is an odd feeling of being out of your body like a spirit, and as you watch from non-existence you can see the GF wreaking havoc on the enemy. A creature resembling a tall pale woman but of gigantic size descended from above. She was beautiful and calm, she looked a little like Shiva. In a wave of her arm, a swirling pit appeared below the two monsters. As Alex and Carlie watched, the caterchipillar and imp were dragged into the vortex. Then as quickly as they appeared, the woman and the swirling pit left.

Alex found himself back in his body, and turned to see Carlie lying dazed on the floor.

Alex looked at her. "You alright? You never told me you had a GF…"

"Um… I…" Carlie sat up. "It is mine." She said finally.

Alex sighed. "Jeez… civilians with GFs. What next?"

"I'm not a civilian, I'm a Dollet agent." She insisted.

"Dollet's agents don't go through any real combat training. You might as well be." He shook his head. "Where did you get the GF?"

Carlie paused, and looked to the floor. "I found a dying SeeD when I was younger, during the Dollet invasion. She said she had a creature that would protect me. It was her that gave me the GF, she called it Eidolon."

"Eidolon? I've never heard of it." Alex stated, before Carlie continued.

"She insisted I take it, so I've kept it ever since. I've never needed to use it until now." She mused.

"You didn't have to use it. I was fine." Alex stated coldly.

"Yeah, right. You were in loads of trouble!" Carlie corrected him.

Alex stood. "Don't get me wrong. I thank you for your help. But just for future reference, I don't need anyone's help."

"Everybody needs someone." Carlie stated, standing too.

"Guess that's more proof I'm not included under the term 'everybody', then." Alex said simply.

"Fine, I won't help you next time then."

There was a long pause. Alex let out a sigh. "Look, I'm just being honest. I'm sorry. I do appreciate you were trying to help me out. I'm just saying I was fine."

Carlie shrugged. She wasn't going to let this stupid conversation erupt again. "Never mind, don't worry about it." She smiled.

"So, what you brings you to the Garden?" Alex turned away, gazing dully at whatever met his glance.

"Looking for you and Liana, actually." Carlie gazed around too, so they stood facing away from each other.

"Liana's gone into Dollet, ironically enough…" Alex turned again to face her.

She looked back. "There's been a change of plans. I'm coming on the Garden with you two now." She said.

Alex frowned slightly. "Really?"

"Yep. I had this really odd dream. It's called an 'Ellone Dream', I've read about them. I told the guys at Garden about it, and they asked if I could come along wherever they're going. I said yes, seeing as I'm not sure what I'm gonna do with myself now the DIA don't need me." Carlie told him.

"Well, welcome to the Garden in any case…" Alex said blandly.

"What's wrong? Don't act too nice, Al, you might make me feel welcome." She added sarcastically.

Alex sighed. "Sorry, it's nothing really. It's great to hear you're coming too, I'm just concerned. I hope you thought about this."

"Of course. Stop worrying; and smile." She beamed. Alex brightened a little.

"Right…" He nodded. "Hey, the cafeteria's open now. Wanna get something to eat?"

***

Juri awoke suddenly as Kodansha flicked her ear hard.

"Ooow!! What did you do that for?" Juri rubbed it.

Kodansha smiled. "Come on, fuckwit. Get up."

"Who are you calling a-" Juri was interrupted by the loud thundering of what sounded like a couple of fighter jets flying overhead. The two turned to see where the sound was coming from, in time to see two strange jets zip across the sky above them. The roar died down as the odd vehicles departed, and all was quiet again.

"Did… you see that?" Juri asked slowly.

"Of course I did. Haven't a clue what they are though." Kodansha replied.

"They looked a bit like Esthar flying craft." Juri said thoughtfully.

"I've never been to Esthar, so I wouldn't know." Kodansha told her simply. By now the pair of jets had become dots disappearing over the horizon.

"I've been to lots of places. That's why you ought to listen to me once in a while." Juri turned her head to her.

Kodansha didn't reply, she simply stood and began to walk again. Juri sighed and watched her go, she was tired of running after her. The SeeD stopped after walking ten meters or so, but didn't turn around.

"Are you coming or not?" she said.

Juri stood up and let out another sigh, trying to take the unbearable heat as well as she could. She was quite used to deserts, so she had not idea how Kodansha was putting up with it. She walked over beside the SeeD ninja and they began walking again. "Did it occur to you that those strange Esthar-like jets might have something to do with Annie Tilgari?" Juri asked without really expecting an answer.

"No." Kodansha shrugged.

"Well, they look similar to her flyer. I think we should go in the direction of the jets." The Shadow Hunter continued.

"Fine by me."

"Right…" Juri was surprised to hear the ninja agree for once. "Then let's follow them up the coastline…" She looked to where the jets had headed. "Maybe they're headed for Timber…?"

***

Just before the Garden was due to depart, Instructor Trepe had made the announcement that she was leaving. Nida had also informed them that they had a new course, too. Balamb Garden was to head for Centra, due to a request from Galbadia Garden to track down a magic bandit named Annie. Why this young girl demanded the attention of the entire Garden in such short notice was still unclear.

On the balcony high up at the classroom level, Liana and Carlie stood talking and admiring the view as the Garden set out on it's journey down the coast. Carlie held a cup of coffee in her hands, taking comfort in the warmth of it. The weather had gotten cooler since the sky had clouded a few hours ago, and the height of the balcony made it colder.

"So, what do you think of my new duster?" Liana twisted her torso to show the back of the long, soft garment. It was black, fitted snugly around her neck and mostly covered the back of her contrasting white tank top.

"Aww, it's great. Did you get that from 'Minwalls' in Dollet?" Carlie asked her smiling in admiration.

Liana nodded. "I haven't seen them anywhere else." She grinned and bounced from one foot to the other.

"But aren't they about a thousand gil?" Carlie was amazed, but still smiling.

"Yeah! I won a little competition in Dollet marketplace." Liana bounced more.

"Wow…" Carlie smiled as Alex walked out onto the balcony too.

Alex was still wearing a ruffled long leather coat with a high collar and large cuffs, with black jeans and boots. Just like always. Carlie felt somewhat underdressed alongside these two.

"Hi." He gestured simply. "Hey, Liana, that looks nice." He pointed out Liana's new duster.

"Thanks." She beamed.

"Well, I'm going inside now." Carlie smiled. "This coffee isn't enough to keep warm up here anyway." She stepped past the other two. They watched her walk down the hallway toward the classrooms.

There was a pause as Liana looked out across the sea passing beneath the Garden. "Y'know, I forgot to thank you for catching hold of me when I jumped for that train, back in Deling." She said eventually.

"Don't worry about it." Alex smiled a little, looking away in embarrassment.

She looked over at him, and decided to change the subject. "I can tell you don't like the idea of Carlie coming along." She sounded as if they'd been avoiding having this conversation.

"No, I'm worried, that's all."

"Hey, nobody's safe." Liana stated.

Alex turned to her. "That doesn't mean we should endanger someone else, though. I admit I'm a risk-taking person. But I only take risks for me. With other people, it's different."

"It's just not like you to worry about everyone." Liana shrugged, smiling a bit as she added: "Do you like her?"

"Not in the way you're thinking." Alex smiled a little. "We're too different. Although I just can't help the fact she looks so much like someone I did love."

"You can't let that affect you." Liana stated. "Just 'cause she looks like your ex girlfriend doesn't mean she-"

"She wasn't my girlfriend." Alex interrupted mournfully. "She died in the Trabia missile bombing before I told her my feelings."

Liana bit her lip. "I… I'm sorry Alex. I didn't know."

"That's okay." Alex sighed. "I've never told anyone about Jenny."

"Alright... You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

Alex paused a moment. "I want to." He looked away, across the coast of Galbadia below.

"What was she like, then?" Liana asked him sensitively. Her usual hyperactive nature seemed to be dormant.

Alex rested his folded arms on the balcony. "She was… my perfect girl in every way. I can only begin to describe her… she was kind, beautiful, comforting and bright natured. She loved to talk about anything. One night we lay head to head in a field looking at the stars and just talked about loads of things. Even though she wasn't my girlfriend, she would do that anyway. She just loved everyone around her. 

Sometimes she was a bit of a joker, and her moods would swing a lot too. But despite that she was strong and spirited inside with a cute sense of humour. But the main thing was, she actually noticed me. One of the few people that ever did."

"I notice you." Liana pointed out.

"I know." Alex smiled briefly, though Liana noticed a tear on his cheek. "But… then the Galbadians took her life. And… him. That son-of-a-bitch that trapped her in the collapsing classroom to save his own skin. That bastard Gary Almiroth!" Alex gritted his teeth as the tears began to soak his face.

"Almiroth…" Liana shook her head. She'd heard that name somewhere.

Alex dried his eyes with his hand in one irritated movement. "A student from Galbadia garden who was in Trabia. Gunblade expert, though I never got on with him. When I found out what he'd done… no, I *more* than hated him. Words cannot describe the pain he's caused me."

"What happened after Trabia was bombed?" Liana asked carefully.

"Gary went rogue, and I was transferred to Balamb along with a few other students from Trabia Garden." Alex explained. "I hear Trabia's been restored now, but…" He shook his head.

"It would be too painful to go back." Liana finished with a nod.

Alex nodded too, and forced himself to lighten up slightly. "Thankyou Liana. Thankyou for just being the person I can talk to. It's one thing I always missed about Trabia… and Jennifer." He almost smiled.

She put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "It's okay. Be strong. But don't forget it's okay to be sad if it hurts…" She turned and walked inside the doorway.

Alex watched her go, then turned around to look out across the coast again. He took a deep breath, taking in the fresh sea breeze. All he needed now was a little while on his own…

***

The evening had filled the sky with a kaleidoscope of deep violets and red clouds, and the shape of the Garden drifting across it was dotted with bright lights like a glorious ocean liner enhancing a sunset. Aboard the floating academy, a party was beginning; organised by the leader of the Garden festival. She bounced back and forth between the students saying hello. Carlie recognised her from the fountain with the tall man earlier that day, she still wore her yellow pinafore, though she was wearing the tall man's fedora.

"Loads of stuff has gone on today." Carlie smiled, tapping her glass on Liana's in a toast. They both stood beside the bar casually.

"Yeah… I can't believe Instructor Trepe left the Garden." Liana said staring nostalgically. "I wonder who'll teach us Fire Creature Anatomy now. Hey, I wonder what the Treppies are gonna do?" She giggled.

"So where's Alex then?" Carlie asked. "Haven't seen much of him today."

"Um, I only got introduced to him just before the Deling mission. I don't think he comes to parties much, or I would've seen him before. Trust me." She added.

"It's only because I never had anyone to go with." Alex's voice came from behind them. They slowly turned to see he was standing behind them with a humble smile on his face.

"Hey, I really didn't expect you to come." Liana grinned a little.

"I thought I might as well." Alex shrugged.

The voice of a tall man came from behind them. "Is this guy bothering you two?" Liana and Carlie turned to see a man in his early twenties, wearing a long coat like Alex's only it was white, with short blonde hair.

"No, you are." Carlie retorted. "Get bent."

Liana smiled. She could tell Carlie was good at this sort of thing.

The tall man shrugged. "Guess he'd be no problem for you if he needs girls to stick up for him." He taunted.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Liana nearly yelled at him.

Alex stepped in front of her, and looked up slightly at the tall man. "I'd put my money on these two girls in a fight more likely than a chickenwuss like you." He scowled harder.

"Hey, that's my insult, you little twat." The man swung a fist into Alex's face. Alex stumbled a little, bracing himself by putting his foot back. He noticed the taste of blood in his mouth.

"Don't fight him Alex, ignore him." Liana told him.

"I'm not gonna run away." Alex muttered, turning back to his opponent like a persistent machine.

"Still picking on the kids, Seifer?" A monotone voice from behind the tall man came, and he turned in response. Behind him stood another man, he looked a little like Alex but a few years older and he wore a short black leather jacket with a fur collar.

Seifer smiled back disturbingly. "And you're still saving the weak, Squall."

Liana nodded to Alex and Carlie, who returned the gesture as the three students crept away from what seemed to be an impending fight. They hurried out into the lower open deck at the stern of the Garden, and stopped when they'd left the scene behind. As they paused to catch a breath Alex realised he suddenly had the feeling of being a kid again. Childhood, though it always seemed as though he hadn't lived it, ran through him for a brief second. The thrill of the escape from trouble to a quiet place, like playful children. A situation Alex knew so well, though he'd never experienced it.

"Mmmmn, I didn't know Squall Leonhart was so cute." Carlie sighed, a coy smile on her face. She'd barely finished her sentence, as a thundering sound like jet aircraft came from the distance. It grew louder as the source neared them, though the darkness made it impossible to see what was coming.

"Uh, guys, what is that loud noise…? It sounds like fighter jets!" Liana raised her voice and began to sound more worried as the noise intensified. Alex, who was normally unmoved by odd occurrence, seemed to be immobilised by the deafening thunder of the jets.

Suddenly, two black shadows could be seen against the stars of the sky, passing over the Garden with incredible speed. The silhouettes of what could only be described as aircraft turned gradually in a wide arc back toward the Garden. By now many of the students were looking out of windows or standing outside to see what the noise was about. As the UFOs came back toward the Garden, they lit up with a flash as bright projectiles hurled toward the flying academy.

"Look out!" came several yells. The students standing on the outer stern deck ran for the door to the inside as the red star-like pulses smashed into the decks' smooth flooring. In a shower of marble the stern deck erupted fantastically, the last few students diving forward from the impact. The two hostile objects flew over the Garden and began to come around for another attack.

Alex, Liana and Carlie stumbled back inside and ran for the elevator to the classroom level. Liana slammed the button and they leapt in hurriedly.

"What the hell did we do now?" Liana shook her head as the elevator began to move upward.

Alex shrugged. "I'm more concerned how we're gonna destroy them. If they don't board, how do we fight them?"

"You mean there aren't any guns on this thing?" Carlie seemed alarmed.

"Not that I know of…" Liana bit her lip. The elevator came to a stop at the classroom level and they ran down the hallway to the balcony at the end. Liana drew her pistols from her belt.

"You reckon you can hit them?" Alex asked respectfully.

"Hitting them ain't the problem, I gotta see them." Liana slipped a clip into each pistol and stepped outside. Alex and Carlie stepped out on either side of her, looking around.

Headmaster Cid and Nida weren't exactly old war buddies, but Nida's current shouting was unusual between them.

"Are you saying we have no weapons to fire at them? Hasn't this kind of thing happened before?" He folded his arms angrily.

Cid replied slowly and quieter. "The Garden isn't a warship." He reminded.

"Does the phrase 'self-defence' mean anything to the Shumi, or you for that matter?"

"Commander Nida, that is no way to address me and you know it." Cid said, much sterner this time.

Nida gave a short sigh. "You're right sir… I'm just frustrated because we're helpless." He confessed.

"Gather the Garden's best gun students to the stern." Cid ordered. "We'll give them something to reckon with…"

"Look, here they come!" Carlie pointed. Liana looked up to where her friend had indicated and scoured the stars for the black silhouettes. She suddenly noticed a patch of darkness dive toward them and took aim. She held up her arms straight and fired several shots from both pistols, muzzle flashes lighting up the balcony for split seconds. The shadowy fighter seemed damaged, and broke off its attack temporarily. 

Suddenly a cheer sounded from the stern of the Garden, as a flaming aircraft darted down into the sea in a mighty plume of water. The gunners at the back had succeeded in destroying one of them. Then the other returned, this time from Alex's side of the balcony, to the front-right of the Garden. Liana whirled around and fired every shot left in both clips, and the damaged craft corkscrewed in flames toward the balcony.

"Oh, crap, RUN!" Alex said, almost pushing Liana and Carlie through the doorway. The aircraft smashed into the balcony, taking a chunk from it and then fell to the sea thirty or so meters below. Liana breathed a sigh of relief, turning to look at the damage, noticing somebody was missing. She looked at Carlie, who was standing next to her.

"Alex?" Carlie said slowly.

"Yeah…?" Came a strained voice. They stepped out onto the damaged balcony, catching a glance of Alex hanging onto a piece of the flooring.

"Oh, heck. Don't look down." Liana suggested.

"Sure…" Alex grunted.

"Hey, we neeed help over here!" Carlie called out.

A number of students had heard the impact and were arriving at the balcony, among them a tall and beautiful woman with long black hair and a short white dress. Upon seeing the situation, she turned to her friend who had just run up too. He was a little shorter, but about the same age, and wore long baggy shorts and black fingerless gloves.

"You know what to do Zell." She said.

"Sure Rinoa, tell him to hang on." Zell replied as he disappeared.

"Hang on Al." Liana encouraged.

"Right…" Alex would've shrugged, had it not been so dicey to do so. He found himself suddenly questioning his actions. Why was he hanging? If there was an afterlife, he could be with Jennifer again in just moments. If he just let go…

"(No, you're not like that. I can't abandon my duties here. Letting go would mean letting Almiroth win.)" Alex told himself. And he was *not* going to let that happen.

He noticed movement of something coming towards him from the stern, hovering along the side of the Garden. It was Zell, riding some kind of flying skateboard. Zell manoeuvred the board under Alex's feet, so that he was lifted up onto the balcony. They stepped off and Alex stumbled forward through the balcony doorway. With the rescue over, and Alex having thanked Zell, the three young students began to walk back to the dorms.

"Man, that damage is pretty bad. I can't believe the Garden has no defences against that." Alex muttered.

"They'll repair it." Liana nodded with an optimistic smile.

Carlie stopped at a door, and the other two turned to face her.

"This is my room, so I'll be going now. Goodnight guys." She said sweetly.

"Night Carlie!" Liana headed off in a skip down the hall.

"Pleasant dreams Carlie." Alex replied as he began to walk to his own quarters…

***

Carlie opened her eyes. The landscape was a dull grey/brown, dead and scorched. Bones covered the ground, everywhere. They crunched beneath her feet, snapping like brittle dry twigs. Some of them looked like they must be human, others were unrecognisable. Her mouth gaped open at the morbid spectacle, the seemingly endless graveyard stretching out for miles around her.

A sudden movement disturbed the un-natural still, as a blur of metal bounded toward her from the horizon. She could hear its heavy metal footsteps smashing the bones beneath its feet. It was definitely running for her. Carlie turned and ran, overcoming fear with determination. This didn't make sense, where was she? She didn't even feel like herself, she was shorter and younger. It felt all too real to be a dream.

Carlie took a glance over her shoulder to see the nearing mechanical monster leap forward at her. Just as it was about to come down on her, she dived sideways and it landed with the sound of shattering bones. Carlie stumbled across the landscape, desperately trying to get back on her feet. Suddenly a mechanical arm came out and grabbed her waist, pulling her into metallic jaws. She cried out as she felt the pain of being devoured by it. This was real. She really was about to die.

"Are you alright?" Liana's voice came.

Carlie flung open her eyes to find herself lying on her back in her bed. Liana stood at the doorway with a look of concern. Carlie caught her breath and gave a short sigh of relief. It was another one of those 'Ellone Dreams'. She knew it was, because they were different from normal dreams. More real, and she felt as if she wasn't herself somehow.

"I-I'm… alright." Carlie stuttered. "Just a very bad dream. I'll get over it."

"I heard you crying out from down the corridor." Liana told her. "I've been awake for a while, so I came over."

Carlie nodded. "Thanks, you woke me up just in time." She forced a smile, though she still felt anxious and tense.

Liana turned back to the doorway. "Sleep well Carlie…"

***

The Shadow Hunter had been right, somehow. By Juri's gut opinion, they had woken the following day to see Balamb Garden drifting over Timber, and were able to bring it to a stop and board. Kodansha walked alongside her companion up the gantry to the stern of the Garden.

"You should think about getting this place done up, it looks a mess." Kodansha said bluntly. The two SeeDs' standing on the stern deck where the gantry exited onto the Garden exchanged a glance.

"It was damaged last night, in an attack by two jets which we couldn't identify." Alex explained.

"Ah, yes. I believe we also saw those jets." Juri nodded. "They damaged the Garden?"

"It is a little busted, yeah…" Liana nodded. Alex noted she had a talent for understatements.

Juri suddenly realised they hadn't introduced themselves. "Oh, forgive our manners." She shot Kodansha a dark look. "I am Juri-shai Kisatine, Shadow Hunter."

"I'm Liana, a SeeD gunfighter." It was clear Liana enjoyed saying hello to new people, as her greetings always seemed sugar-high. "And this is Alex, gunblade specialist."

"Nice to meet you both, indeed." Juri smiled. She gave Kodansha an expectant look.

"Kodansha. SeeD." She grunted, and wondered off.

"Anyway, we'd better let the Garden get going. We've gotta get to Annie Tilgari in Centrotia." Alex told Juri, as Kodansha had left.

"I'm also in pursuit of Annie Tilgari." Juri nodded.

"Then you may continue your search with the aid of the Garden." Nida said from behind Alex. "I'm sure the headmaster will agree."

"I'd be honoured…" Juri smiled.


	4. Part III - Island in the Sky

Part I

It was Kodansha and Juri's first night aboard the Garden, and they were probably sleeping better than Alex was. He turned over again, opening his eyes to see his quarters dimly lit by starlight from his slanted window. He sat up and looked out at a distant star, shining brightly.

"(How I wish I could hold Jennifer right now, share this with her. I know I can't, not ever. When am I going to realise that?)" Alex shook his head. "(…But to share it with anyone would feel better.)" 

"(Yet like every other night when I gaze at those stars, I'm alone. Alone, like I always have been. But that's fine. I'm not afraid of being alone, I don't want to depend on other people.)" He sighed and hung his head as if looking within himself for resolution. "(People don't like me because I don't give a damn about the way things should be done. I do what I like, and anybody who disagrees can get outta my face. I work *better* alone.)"

He lay back again, taking comfort in the soft sheets he lay on. Even though it was fairly cold at the time, Alex normally slept on top of the covers in his clothes. He just did. It was a habit, mostly because the warm climate of Balamb made his first few nights after Trabia an insomniac nightmare.

He'd loved the cold winter climate of Trabia, just as much as anything else about it.

He was a winter wolf… Trabia was where he should have stayed, the happy world he belonged to that he was snatched away from, like a spirit plucked from heaven and condemned to earth. The rain and snow were calming and beautiful, and with them came the atmosphere that would always remind him of the short happy time at Trabia Garden.

"(I gotta stop living in the past.)" He lay down again. "(But unless I'm in the past, I don't feel I'm living at all.)"

He lay on his back, taking in the beauty of the starlit sky again. He felt the loneliness in him, taking the joy of the beauty and turning it into sorrow. He was empty but for an empty wish.

***

Despite the fact it was late morning, Kodansha had only just got up. Balamb Garden had crossed the ocean in between Galbadia and Centra overnight, after spending the day moving down the east Galbadian coastline. A few had got off at Timber, including the renound Squall Leonhart and some of his old team to do a mission.

The previous few days in the desert had been long and she was still a little tired, but nevertheless hunger had kicked in as the dominant factor and now she was wondering the hallways looking for the cafeteria. Galbadia Garden was probably about the same size, but at least it was slightly symmetrical. She turned a corner and walked straight into a tall, white-haired woman coming the other way.

"RAGE!" The woman scowled, giving the girl a harsh look before continuing down the hallway.

Kodansha stood and dusted herself off briefly. "(Jeez... some people. But she *was* kinda cool though.)" She thought with a slight smile.

"KODAAAANNSSHAAAA!!!!!!" Came an expectant call from a high-pitch voice.

"(That can only be one person…)" the SeeD rolled her eyes.

"Heya!! You're up, sleepyhead." Liana bounced over, grinning.

"Yeah. Are you always this annoying in the morning?"

"Are you always this blunt?" Liana countered with a wide-eyed look.

"Uh, yeah."

"Ditto!" she closed her eyes as her grin grew, and began to hop a little. She turned around and began to inspect the soles of her boots absent-mindedly.

"I'm gonna go punch something." Kodansha grunted, shaking her head as she headed for the training area.

Liana breathed in deeply and let out a short sigh of contentment. She was even happier today for some reason. What was it? Who knows. Sometimes you're just happy, and you might as well make the best of it. She headed for the upper undamaged balcony almost in a skip. As she ascended to classroom level and reached the balcony, she saw Alex standing out on it talking to Juri.

"Morning Liana." Alex nodded as she bounced up to them.

"Good morning." Juri said too.

"Heya! Oooooh, lookie," Liana pointed at the reddish, rocky shoreline ahead of the Garden in excitement, "It's Centra!"

Alex nodded. "Yeah."

"Isn't it beautiful?" Juri grinned.

"…" Alex gave his usual reply.

"So they think Annie Tilgari's gone to Centra?" Liana enquired.

"Seems that's what Galbadia Garden is saying, yes." Juri gave a nod.

"I wonder what she's looking for…" Alex said to himself, looking to the floor and thinking hard.

Juri shrugged. "Centra's a dangerous place, but the things you'd find there would interest a magic bandit muchness." She grinned. "Like a deadly island of treasures."

"So what were you guys talking about?" Liana winked.

Alex gave her a dark look, as Juri replied. "I was just about to ask Alex what type of gunblade he had." She turned to him.

"Twin Mythril." Alex said monotonously. He drew the gunblade and looked at it. "Looks a lot like Revolver, but the blade is stronger because it's made of mithrilite. Also, it holds eight bullets at a time and a special bullet above the breach that's capped with a depleted uranium tip and can punch through anything."

"Coolness." Juri nodded.

"So how do you fire the depleted uranium thingy?" Liana asked.

"A master cocking mechanism controls whether I fire a single round or a normal round and uranium bullet at once. See?" Alex explained, showing her the detail.

"Oooh yeah…" Liana nodded with a grin.

They continued to talk as the Garden drifted over the shore of Centra continent and began to make its way across the landscape southward.

Kodansha ate while talking with Carlie, who'd led the ninja to the Cafeteria after meeting her in the training center. Carlie, being polite, had offered to keep her company and bought a drink.

"So, you're a student from Galbadia Garden."

Kodansha nodded, taking a bite from her hot dog. "I grew up in Timber, though. Parents got killed trying to bring it independence, and I ended up with Garden." There was little trace of emotion in her words, she said it fairly casually.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear it." Carlie looked down into her cola.

Kodansha shrugged. "I never really knew them."

"Alex is from Timber too, Liana tells me. He doesn't say much about himself though."

"Alex…?" Liana said again, as the gunblader seemed to wake from a daydream.

"Wha-?"

"Alex, you weren't listening again!" Liana folded her arms, fed up but not entirely serious about it.

"Yeah, um… sorry." He muttered awkwardly. He continued to stare at the horizon ahead.

Juri, who was standing between them, turned to where Alex was looking. She did a double take, looking harder.

"What do suppose it is?" Alex mumbled.

"Huh? Whadda you guys talkin' about?" Liana whirled around to see what it was that was so interesting. Her mouth fell open as she realised what was ahead. "What the spooney is *that*?" she exclaimed, pointing to the strange flying object before the Garden's path.

Whatever it was, it was distant, although clearly many times larger than the Garden. It hovered like an island in the sky; crowned with tall, lit buildings that looked just like Esthar ones, enough to be a small city. As the Garden approached it, a large circular feature on the front-most part of the island became apparent. It looked like a huge metallic disc intersected with hundreds of thin strand-like beams across it.

"I haven't seen anything like it, even in Esthar." Juri gazed in wonder.

"It does look a bit Esthar-like." Alex nodded.

"Esthar things look like *that*?" Liana stared with wide eyes. She continued to look at the odd island, which now looked barely five hundred meters from the front of the Garden.

They suddenly jumped slightly as a series of bright flashes and sounds like thunder preceded a stream of glowing pulses that flew toward the Garden.

"Shit." Liana braced herself as the pulses slammed into the front of Balamb Garden. The three of them held onto the balcony rails and each other as the structure around them shook violently. The powerful shots tore gashes into the hull of the fragile and graceful academy, although by the looks of things they weren't as bad as they could've been.

Xu slammed her fist on the control deck in frustration. "Damn, not again! Nida, do we still have rudder control?" She helped him back to his feet.

"Yeah, the Garden Masters report our engines have been knocked down to forty five per cent maximum capacity, though." He brushed himself off a little, and then took control of the helm again. "A full turn around?" He asked.

"Seems like our best bet." Xu leant over her controls again.

Lights in the cafeteria dimmed as everywhere shook like an earthquake again. A cup fell crashing to the floor, followed by several other items of crockery and glass. Carlie and Kodansha exchanged a look of equal surprise and concern, holding onto the table they sat at in case that decided to fall over too. As the Garden stabilised once more, they felt it had begun to bank gently…

"Quick, we gotta go see what's going on." Carlie stood and binned her empty cola with an impressive long-distance throw.

"Not likely." Kodansha replied. "I'm eating." She added in a serious tone, although Carlie knew she wasn't mad enough to actually *be* serious.

"Jeez, you're unbelievable…" Carlie rolled her eyes in despair, and then disappeared out of the cafeteria door.

"My hot dog would get cold…" Kodansha added quietly, in the now-much-emptier Cafeteria.

Turning gradually, Balamb Garden glided in a banked turn, smoke drifting gently from a number of small tears in the hull. It came about to the direction it had come, with the island appearing to move in pursuit. A number of powerful shots flew forward again, exploding around either side of the Garden.

Although they didn't appear to damage anything, they nevertheless knocked around the Garden's many inhabitants including the three teenagers on the balcony.

"They seem to be trying to cripple us, I think they're trying to capture the Garden." Juri assessed, hands firmly gripping the railing.

"You may be right, but why?" Alex questioned, staring at the huge island that was gaining on them much quicker now.

"Yeah, why would Esthar even fire at us?" Liana frowned.

"That's not quite an Esthar ship. Even Esthar couldn't make something like that." Juri shook her head. "I don't know what it is."

"This is looking really bad." Liana became anxious; as the island got so close it nearly spanned the view of the horizon. A dark shadow began to cover the Garden, like a huge predator had finally caught up with its prey.

Without warning the Garden seemed to be engulfed by pulsing ambient light, as Nida and Xu's controls went dead.

"It's some kind of controlling beam, it's disabled the rudder and throttle control." Xu brushed back her hair and sighed.

"Nothing seems to be responding." Nida shook his head. "We can't do a thing now."

"Wait, the Ragnarok is approaching!" Xu exclaimed. "We can get them to rescue us!"

Nida shook his head. "The Ragnarok won't stand a chance alone, they'll have to go and call for help."

Xu took a moment and realised Nida was probably right. She leant over the communications speaker and pressed the button.

"Ragnarok, this is Balamb Garden. Do not return. Unknown attackers are attempting to capture us. Please bring assistance. Go now, Ragnarok! Over."

The function of the large disc on the front of the island became immediately obvious. The spindly beams parted and the disc slid open in tiny fragments to reveal a pitch-black interior. Slowly the island advanced on the entrapped Garden until the jaw-like hole had swallowed it up inside the colossal bulk. As the doors of the gigantic hangar began to close, Liana closed her eyes. 

"What's happening? Is the Garden lost?" She said despairingly. 

"What can you do?" Alex looked at her in the dim green, alien light.

"Nothing." She replied, opening her eyes. Alex caught a look of need in them. She wanted to feel better. She didn't want the truth. She didn't need the truth right now.

Alex sighed and placed a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. "Don't worry, then. We can only worry about what we can do. I think we're all a little scared right now." 

A lie. He wasn't, because there wasn't anything to be afraid of when you welcome death with open arms. He simply took what life gave him until it decided his time was through. Without Jenny, he was un-afraid of death. Without death, fear had little meaning. Not that anyone would ever believe him.

"Things should be fine." Juri said, though there was an edge to her voice that suggested she was reassuring herself as much as anyone else.

Alex nodded, and looked back at Liana who had turned to look out across the deserted insides of the hangar.

Carlie appeared at the balcony doorway as the Garden stopped with a slight lurch. Alex turned his head to her as she looked around the inside of the hangar in bewilderment.

"Where are we?" she said quietly.

"Inside whatever attacked us." Alex informed her.

"You didn't see it?" Carlie frowned a little.

"No, we just didn't know what it was." Juri explained.

"What's up with Liana?" She asked.

The SeeD gunfighter turned around and looked at the three of them. "I've got a bad feeling about this place." She said slowly.

"Don't worry, we've just gotta try and do whatever we can, remember?" Juri said.

"Let's see what's going on at the boarding gate." Alex suggested. The others nodded as Kodansha joined them and they walked toward the Garden's exterior hatchway.

"Since when were you leading anyone?" Kodansha eyed Alex darkly.

Alex groaned. "Xu talked to me because I'm older than Liana, and you guys aren't Balamb students." He switched on the twin torches attached to his shoulders as he stepped off the boarding ramp onto the strange green flooring of the vessel that had ensnared them. The other four did the same, as the torch collective began to light the dark and deserted passageway ahead. "Don't think of me as a leader, because I don't wanna be. It was just Xu's request."

"Still, a recon mission deep into a huge desolate alien island is a bit of a request." Liana said, stepping behind Alex closely. "Couldn't you have told her to get lost or something?"

"I have trouble saying 'no' to girls…" Alex smiled a little, inspecting the strange organic walls.

"Oh, *great*…" Kodansha mumbled sarcastically. 

"Hey guys, look!" Juri pointed to a strange oval-shaped doorway. "Let's see if we can open it."

"Let's not." Kodansha countered bluntly.

Carlie ran up to it. "I reckon this tube across the middle might be to do with the door's hydraulics." She looked at it carefully. 

"It looks a lot like an old Esthar design." Juri nodded.

"Yeah, but they don't use them anymore." Alex said thoughtfully.

"That doesn't matter. I did an engineering course with Esthar workers once. The hydraulic control will let the door open if the pressure goes down, so if there was ever an accident the doors wouldn't stick shut." Carlie explained.

"So?" Juri asked simply.

"If we can let the gas out of the pipes, the door should open." Carlie's hand gestures made it clear that she couldn't make it any simpler.

"Hey, Al, do you reckon your Twin Mythril could break the pipe?" Liana looked over to him, the light from her torches dazzling him for a moment.

"Sorry." She grinned, aiming the torches down a little.

Alex nodded. "I'll try it." He took out the gleaming blade, taking a moment to admire the craftsmanship of it as he walked up to the pipe.

He swung back and slashed the gunblade into the metal pipe harshly, a deafening shriek of metal rung out as the pipe fractured. White, steam-like gas jetted out of the hole, and a clanking sound came from within the door mechanism. Suddenly the door went silent again. The five of them stood waiting for a moment.

"Damn." Alex muttered, still staring in case he'd spoken too soon.

"Guess these ain't Esthar doors." Carlie concluded.

Juri turned to shine the torches down the rest of the corridor. "Let us continue." She began to walk down the dark passage, her hand ready on her Oniyari.

"Yeah, no time to waste." Liana said as the rest of them followed.

The five of them walked hastily down the long dark hallway, ten torch beams lighting the corridor sporadically.

Alex and Juri came up to the end of the corridor, a flat wall.

"That's odd." Juri pondered.

"Stand back foo's." Kodansha's voice came. The other four turned to see she had a large, alien-like curvy weapon in her hand. It must've been at least half her size. They quickly dispersed as the SeeD walked a little closer.

"Who bets that wall ain't real?" She grinned a little, before pulling the trigger. The gun began to rapidly fire hundreds of bullets that sprayed across the wall, leaving huge chunks taken out of it. Liana put her hands on her ears as the gunfire seemed to get louder, Kodansha still holding down the fire button and juddering with the continuous recoil. Long, empty silver cartridges gushed out of the breach of the odd weapon as a grin appeared on the SeeD's face. She was lovin' it. Letting go of the fire button, the gunfire finally ceased as she inspected the outcome.

"Shit." Kodansha grunted, staring at the ravaged yet standing wall as she allowed the weapon's barrel to stop spinning. The smoke left by the firing gun began to clear, as the SeeD around her slowly stood and took their hands off their ears.

"Stand behind me." Kodansha instructed, holding up the weapon again. The other four took barely a moment to realise what was best for them and ran behind the ninja before she pressed another button on the weapon. A salvo of small rockets flew toward the wall and ripped through what was left of it in a volley of impressive small explosions. More smoke cleared, and a gaping hole was left in what was once a dead end. Kodansha stood with a satisfied smile on her face.

"Alright! Nice one, my SeeD friend." Juri stepped up to the hole, staring up into the daylight beyond.

"Where did you get the gun, Kody?" Liana asked her.

"I found some kinda armoury back there." Kodansha indicated behind her.

"Cool, can I have one?" Liana grinned.

"Try and hold it." The SeeD ninja tossed the gun to Liana, who stumbled backward under the weight. She walked backwards into Alex trying to keep it in her arms, who promptly helped her lower it to the floor.

"Woah!! You're really strong Kody!" Liana beamed, standing up again.

"It probably weighs more when there's ammunition left." Alex looked at Kodansha in timid respect.

The ninja shrugged. "That was also the only one left, so no more of them anyway."

The five companions stepped out into the open, switching off their torches and looking around. The hole had opened out onto a slightly lower deck, with a railing at the far end. The area was without a roof, and the sun was high as noon drew closer. The island seemed to be stationary, but the wind and passing clouds suggested otherwise.

"We've gone even higher." Alex inspected, peering over the edge to the distant features of Centra below. "And we're heading back into Centra again."

"Come on, let's keep moving. There's a passageway through here." Juri pressed outstretched palms against the wall beside the nearby doorway. "I wonder how this thing-"

Her sentence abruptly ended with a loud clunk and the door opening swiftly.

"…opens." She finished quietly, staring at the open door. Beyond it was a long series of passageways. The five stepped back into the depths of the vessel, moving along an assortment of passages and walkways. It felt like they had walked into the mouth of doom itself. After much walking they reached a large spherical room lit by strange bluish/green light. Its only feature was a long platform that extended into the center of the chamber. They continued to walk along the platform.

"Damn, how much deeper do we have to go? What are we looking for?" Liana sighed.

"A way to free the Garden." Alex replied simply. Their footsteps clanked across the metallic yet oddly coloured floor, breaking the eerie silence.

"This place still gives me a bad feeling." Liana uttered. Carlie walked along beside her, and had remained quiet for a while. "Are you ok Carlie? You've been kinda quiet."

Carlie looked back. "It's just… I know what you mean, Liana. I don't like this place. It feels really… foreboding. Just, wrong, somehow." She tried to explain. "A sorta personal dreading feeling. Not usual anxiety, something more than that. Something different…"

The curved walls around them suddenly echoed a strange sound. They stopped to listen. It was like a tapping rhythm… clanking footsteps that weren't theirs.

"What's that?" Juri looked around.

An odd snake-like metallic neck appeared to one side of the platform, with a large head like a dragon on the front. It was clearly mechanical, but the machine looked organic and impossibly smooth moving.

Alex drew his Twin Mythril and readied himself for a fight as the machine circled them like a shark. Juri followed immediately afterward by drawing her Oniyari. The other two SeeD readied their weapons, and Carlie stood ready to use the Magic the Garden had given her.

The head of the dragon-machine descended to the platform and in front of them. Alex ran forward and swung the gunblade, pulling the trigger as the blade cut into the dragon. The uranium-tipped bullet dug deep, and the horror fell crashing to the floor below, as another swooped down on Kodansha. The ninja was prepared, and leapt from the attack. She turned and cast fira on the passing monstrosity, inflicting burns across its shiny surface.

Liana turned and let off a stream of shots at another dragon-machine that was approaching, but it turned and knocked her over with a whip of its mechanical tail. Carlie jumped in, casting aero before they could hit her again, and the mechanical abomination fell to the ground below the long platform. 

Two more appeared, knocking Alex forward, and over the edge of the platform. He reached out and grabbed the edge of it, and slowly pulled himself. Taking the revenge stance, Juri charged at one of the machines and Kodansha the other. Their weapons clanked against the metal loudly, forcing the two dragon-robots to retreat slightly.

Alex held up his hand to gesture the others to stand down. As the mechanical dragons formed a circle around them, the other four noticed why Alex had signalled surrender. Ahead of them a veritable army of strangely clothed soldiers ran down the platform, followed shortly by a hovering machine that carried a large throne with chairs either side. The tall man on the throne's right side wore a straight uniform and stood tall, and a young girl sat gloomily to the left of the throne. At the throne itself sat a tall and beautiful woman, decorated with fine and extravagant jewels and with eyes like ice ablaze. She stood as the throne-platform stopped, looking at the five fighters before her with a slightly confused expression.

"This is most impressive. Not only did the Shumi teach the monkey-children to fly Shumi ships, they also taught you how to fight. I was going to leave you in your ship until I had finished my business, but it seems you were more resourceful than I'd expected." The woman smiled mischievously. "Still, you are nothing to our power." She added lightly.

"Who are you?" Liana said nervously.

"I am, of course, Queen Marie of Centrotia." The tall woman stated. "If you did not know that, you are indeed ignorant."

"Are you responsible for attacking the Garden?" Alex asked, ignoring the urge to retort to her remark against Liana.

"We haven't attacked any arrangements of flowers in recent years." Queen Marie smiled smugly. She had guessed what they'd meant, but teasing them was far more fun.

"It's our ship, fuckwit." Kodansha finally spoke, irritated by the apparent lack of understood meaning.

The Queen's expression went dark. "You mock me, monkey-child?"

"What do you want with us?" Carlie said, a look of anxiety on her face.

"I shall be asking the questions, not you." The Queen hissed. "What is the Shuman year?"

"The what?" Alex frowned.

A long blade from one of the surrounding guards lashed out, cutting Alex across the top of his hand. He recoiled in the pain, looking at the blood that began to seep from the long, thin wound with gritted teeth.

"What was that for?" Liana protested.

"Shut up, monkey-child." The Queen barked. "I do not have time to play games with you. If you do not tell whoever leads the Shumi to return EyE to us, we shall execute your crew."

"WHAT?" Carlie's eyes widened. "We haven't done anything to you!"

"Yes, you really are pathetic for a first wave attack." Marie smiled. "I was expecting the Shumi to be more powerful. Although it surprises me not how their laziness has led them to the foolish idea of using monkey-children to pilot their warships."

"We aren't monkeys and that's not a warship." Alex said, looking up at the Queen's face. Suddenly, he noticed something about her. Her ears were oddly pointed, and had strange gill-like folds at the back.

"I have eyes, monkey-child." Marie said angrily. "I can see what you are."

"You… aren't human?" Alex said slowly.

"I am Centran. You're a poor observer." Queen Marie replied.

"Can't say much for you, then." Juri muttered.

The Queen was clearly becoming impatient, as she sighed and let her eyes shut. "Look, you have until tomorrow night to return EyE to us, or we will begin to kill you all. I've nothing more to say to you." She opened her eyes and grinned, as if she'd just happily ordered cake for everyone. The five humans were shunted along behind the Queen's hovering throne, as they made their way to the Garden in the hanger.

Upon arriving, the Queen's throne descended to the floor. A lookout at the Garden had seen the oncoming assembly of the Centra and their SeeD hostages. Xu and two other SeeD walked carefully toward the gathering, stopping several meters away.

"Greetings to you, I'm Xu. I'm speaking on behalf of Headmaster Cid." She said.

"Tell me why you are here, and who you are working for." The Queen demanded. "And now."

Xu felt butterflies in her stomach. "We are members of Balamb Garden, the academy behind me. We were created to…" Xu suddenly realised the Queen looked a lot like a sorceress, and decided a quick change of sentence might save a few lives. "…clean hotels." A number of strange looks came from around her. She tried to discreetly dismiss them, but the whole attempt failed miserably.

"Oh, right, cleaning hotels. Armed with swords and guns too, now it all makes sense…" Marie nodded smiling, before instantly turning enraged. "You monkey-children think this is some sort of game!?! I've had it with your pathetic attempts to fool me."

"We're mercenaries." Alex told her, looking at the floor.

The Queen sighed. "What am I to do with these mischievous savages?" she flustered.

The man to her right made a respectful gesture to attract the Queen's attention.

"Yes Admiral Fire Ceremony?" Marie responded, keeping her eyes on the SeeD.

"Your Ladyship, might I suggest we solve two of our problems at once…" he began.

"Go on." she encouraged.

"Well, after our journey we are showing signs of temporal instability. It is required that we transport something back to our time, to stabilise the exchange, as we miscalculated mass by roughly a thousand tons." He explained. "This… Balamb Garden is of sufficient mass and composure to solve the problem."

Queen Marie looked at him and smiled almost wickedly. "Well… what a splendid idea, Fire Ceremony. Begin removing all inhabitants of this 'Garden', and imprison them."

"With haste, Your Ladyship." The admiral acknowledged with a respectful bow before leaving with two tall and graceful Centran guards.

The Queen turned her eye to the Xu. "Might I recommend that you do not resist; for your own benefit. We are capable of things you can only imagine. Do not toy with us."

Xu exhaled deeply. "Very well. Do as she says."

***

Esthar Airstation was normally fairly empty, and today was no exception. The Ragnarok had no problem in touching down almost as soon as it had arrived, and Tim (with the SeeD and two soldiers) had ran straight for the seat lift to the Palace, where he had requested audience with President Loire.

"I dunno what it was, but it just looked like a flying city. The design seemed to be like Esthar, but I doubt they've got anythin' to do with you guys." Tim explained. "It swallowed up Balamb Garden inside it, it was that big."

"Inside it?" Laguna Loire was nearly forty, but still had his boyish expressions.

"Yeah. They told me to get help, and Esthar is the only place I figure that could do anything about it."

"Whoa, there." Laguna smiled, chuckling nervously. "I don't know what we're up against, so I'm not giving any promises."

"Just do whatever you can." Tim shrugged.

"We will, it's the least I can do to repay SeeD for their past help." Laguna nodded, turning to one of his aides. "Kiros, when did Morju say the Kalevala would be ready?"

"I think she said it was ready now." Kiros scratched his head.

Laguna gave a sigh. "Well why didn't you tell me?"

"You didn't ask me about it." He smoothly replied.

"It's all I can offer you at the moment. Go to a woman called Morju; Ward will take you there. She's head of the Airship Builder Ministry. I'll notify her of you and your companions. Good luck to you."

"Thanks!" Tim bowed slightly. "Later dude!"

Ward, Tim, the SeeD and the two soldiers entered the main hangar of the ABM building, and were greeted by a tall, kind-eyed woman in her early forties. She was dressed in a long apron and a ruffled shirt rolled up at the sleeves. Her complexion was dark and her hair long and black. She smiled, and gestured a young girl working on some engine parts to come over.

"Greetings to you. I am Morju Koleh, the head of the Airship Builder Ministry. We make all the flying craft of Esthar, including the famed Ragnarok. We run the building and maintenance, while Doctor Odine runs research and design. And this is my assistant, Annie Tilgari."

Tim suddenly realised the name. "Hey!" He yelled, running up to the young girl. She was somewhat shorter than Tim or the other three, and her short blonde hair curled into a spiral at the front. She wore small close-fitting shorts and a strange Esthar-like crop top.

"You were the Magic Bandit from Galbadia!" the female soldier standing next to Ward accused.

"Uh, I…" Annie said worriedly.

"You *are* the Magic Bandit!" Tim said

Annie squatted and then curled up. "Okay! I'm sorry, I did do it! Please don't hurt me…" She put her hands over her eyes.

"Annie…?" Morju said in a tone of bewilderment.

"Aww jeez…" Tim sighed.

"We don't have time to pursue this matter right now." The SeeD said. "But Annie will have to come with us."

"I… I don't know what to say. Annie?" Morju looked to her young assistant.

"I'm so sorry… my parents have no money, so I have to work all day. And then a man said he would give me money for magic, so I used the draw ability of the Loki flyer." She confessed. "The man said he'd pay lots for a magic called EyE, and he told me where to get it. So I took it from the big island in the sky. I'm so sorry!!" A tear appeared in her eye. "To make things worse, he just took the magic and knocked me out. He lied about helping me." She sniffed.

"There, there. Calm down, child." Morju patted her shoulder. "You poor little thing. I was suspicious when you said you'd knocked yourself on the drive axels."

Tim sighed. "Do you realise what you have done? Balamb Garden has been captured by that island, most likely because what you did."

"I, I… no…" Annie bit her lip, hanging her head in regret. She had become nearly speechless with regret; she no longer knew what to say.

"What's done is done." The SeeD said. "What matters now is that we do all we can to put it right. But Tilgari is gonna have to come with us."

"Then the Kalevala is all yours." Morju nodded with a sad expression.

***

Alex opened his eyes slowly, to find he was slumped in the corner of cell, with Liana resting against his shoulder. A young boy, probably barely eleven, and wearing Alex's long coat lay in front of them, resting against Carlie's sleeping form. Alex could see Kodansha, Juri and Xu in another cell opposite, and beyond them a number of other Centran cells holding the Garden's students and staff.

Alex turned over his hand to look at the gash that was now across it. Although the cut was only skin-deep, it would probably leave a scar. He recalled that the bleeding had caused some discomfort last night, though the wound had now begun to seal.

He moved his shoulder slightly, deliberately waking Liana up.

"Heyaa…whoo..wha?" Liana sat forward, looking at Carlie and the young Garden kid, around the Centran cell, and eventually at Alex. He smiled back, amused by her bewildered appearance.

"Oh, we're still in here. What are we gonna do?" She sighed.

"Hey, I'll think of somethin'. If no one else does …" Alex stood confidently. "Just remember: Don't worry."

Liana grinned. "Okay. I'll help think too."

Alex walked up to the glowing purple bars, inspecting them closely. Carlie awoke as her two 'cell-mates' began to move around.

"Hey, watcha doin'?" she said, carefully letting the young sleeping boy lay down his head as she got up.

"Looking for clues as to how we can get out." Alex replied.

"Yay, an' I'm helping!" Liana beamed.

Suddenly, a young girl appeared at the door outside the cell, quite clearly Centran. She wore a long white and violet gown with fine decoration, and she stood gazing into Alex and Liana's cell.

"What do you want with us?" Carlie asked her, as she stood looking into the bars.

"I am the Princess of Centrotia." The girl told them.

"Yes, I recognised you from the Queen's throne ensemble yesterday." Alex nodded. "What do you want?"

She stared at him with large, intense eyes. They were not human, but somehow radiated a surreal beauty. "I want to help you."

"Me?" Alex asked, confused why she was still staring at him.

"How?" Carlie interrupted.

"The Centra can send people's minds into the past as somebody else. One of you has been experiencing 'dreams'." She turned to Carlie.

"Yes… I have. Those Ellone Dreams were because of you?"

The Princess nodded. "You saw into the past through the eyes of a human in the Battle of Timber Hill, and a Centran running from a Shumi Devourer."

"I've never heard of any of that." Xu had woken up and walked up to the bars of her cell.

"It was all over a millennia ago. I don't have time to explain, all I can tell you is that one of you needs to go back in time with the Garden. It's a one way trip, but I have a plan." The Princess explained.

"It better be good then." Alex said.

"I can integrate minds into circuits in a similar way to the dream. I can put one of you into the Garden's autopilot computer, and then you can recover the Garden where it is in the present-day and return the mind to body."

"You mean somebody has to endure a thousand years alone as a computer?" Liana said, horrified.

"Not somebody. It must be Carlie. But if she can get the Garden somewhere safe, she can sleep almost all of it." The Princess told them. "This is the only way. I'm sorry."

"No! I… I can't." Carlie buried her face in her hands. "Not alone. Why me?"

"Because you are descended from the Centra, and there is no room for anyone else." Stated the Princess. "A pure human would most likely not survive, and the circuitry must be immensely complex to hold just one mind."

"Descended from the Centra…?" Carlie looked confused.

"Please! There is not much time, and no other way. Trust me."

"Why should we trust you?" Alex asked carefully.

"Because if you don't, we are all to be doomed." The Centran Princess replied, sighing. "And my sister won't realise it."

"Your sister?" Liana asked.

"The Queen." The Princess looked at her oddly.

"Hmmn… So Centra do it differently." Alex mused.

"Please! Will you do it, Carlie?" The Princess pleaded. "I can't lie, it could be unpleasant."

Carlie swallowed, and looked around to her companions. A thousand years. Without a mortal body, she would be most likely the only person to ever experience that length of time. Unless she could sleep. She hoped she would sleep, or she would simply go insane. She hated being alone. But for that length of time, it was unimaginable. Still, she could see it in the eyes of the Princess just how important this was.

"… Okay." She muttered with a nod, the pain became apparent in her expression.

"You will?! You're really brave Carlie!" Liana smiled caringly. 

Alex nodded too. "I wish I could have gone instead, or helped to ease the pain. I could think of nobody else who would find this quite so cruel."

"We'll go looking for you right away!" Liana assured her.

"You know, it might be our only chance Carlie. Do your best, and take care of yourself." Xu added.  
"I will see you all again… a thousand years for me…" She could hardly believe what she was saying. A tear appeared in her eye as the Princess began to chant something quietly. A bright light appeared around a sphere in the Princess' hands as a purple/pink glob like drawn magic flew from Carlie into the orb. As Carlie's lifeless body began to topple backwards, Alex reached out and clumsily caught her. There was a pause, then the princess looked up and grinned.

"She says thanks." She said, holding the glowing sphere in her cupped hands.

"Anytime, Carlie…" Alex smiled almost tearfully "…then I guess it's goodbye."

"It may only be days before we see Carlie again." Kodansha had awoken and spoke unusually sincere and sensitively. "But she may not even remember us."

"No, I remember her saying she wouldn't forget." Liana sat down, holding her knees in locked arms. "Not in a thousand years."

"It was just a figure of speech." Alex nodded with a grim expression. "But I hope so all the same."

The Princess bowed slightly to them all as a gesture of goodbye. "Carlie says goodbye to you all. She cannot describe how much she will miss you. But I cannot delay further. I'm sorry." The Centran left swifty with the Orb containing Carlie's mind, to sneak her into the Garden's computer at the hangar. There was a long silence as Alex looked down at Carlie's lifeless form, having rested her on the hard floor.

"Why didn't she just release us?" Liana broke the silence.

"Where would we go?" Kodansha grunted. 

"Good point." Alex sighed. This was just great. Trapped on a huge flying ship from the past, with one of his best friends in permanent sleeping and some grand fate depend on whether she can remain sane over a thousand years. Surely, things could only improve?


	5. Part IV - Selfless Saviour

Part IV

Queen Marie of Centrotia giggled slightly at the sight of the incoming ship. A large aircraft, gleaming metallic blue and very similar in appearance to her own ships. Nevertheless their disguise was pathetic, if that's what it was supposed to be. This airship stood no chance against Centrotia, so Marie had decided not to alert the fleet inside the hangar. Putting them on standby would be pointless as they needed resting time before invasion of the era could begin. Though that would only happen once EyE was recovered.

"Who are these foolish unfortunates, and why does their ship look so similar to those of our fleet?" she asked rhetorically, drumming her fingers across her eloquent and finely embellished desk. The material it was made of was unclear, as it was with much of the furniture and the throne room itself.

"Intelligence gathered from the database on the now-departed 'Balamb Garden' would suggest the creators of that vessel are humans based in Esthar." Fire Ceremony elaborated, watching the view screen of the approaching shape of the Kalevala.

"A human establishment? My, how things change." The Queen chuckled. "And who'd have thought the monkey-children could ever build airships? In any case, we'll have to start with wiping them out. What did the Balamb Garden database say about the Shumi's current situation?"

"Surprisingly little, actually-" Fire Ceremony's voice was cut off by a warning siren.

"CAUTION, SHIELDS AND WEAPONS OFFLINE. ENEMY UNIT IN RANGE." Came the sound of a very natural voice from the computer.

"What?" The Queen hit a button on her desk to bring up a holographic projection of a Centran. "Why are our shields down and weapons offline?" She demanded.

"Not only that, Great One, our engines have also been disabled by an override from a high-up level." The female Centran replied.

The beautiful Queen scowled deeply, fury boiling up inside her, turning her features from benevolence to tyranny. "That little bi-"

***

The Princess pulled her small ID pin out of the hole as the computer accepted the override command. Being a Royal had its advantages. Once she'd seen the Kalevala approach, she'd rushed to the cells and freed the SeeD and Garden staff with relative ease. The prison was guarded by droids that were programmed to follow royal orders without question. The young Centran stepped back into the corridor, where Alex, Liana, Kodansha and Juri stood on lookout for the rest of the students and staff crowding the corridor for a way back. Kodansha and Alex stood at the front, looking awkwardly defenceless.

"Inside the next room down is the prisoner's armoury, we should find your weapons there." The Centrotia Princess beckoned them on.

"What are we gonna do about Carlie?" Liana asked, setting down Carlie against the wall carefully. Up until now she'd been carrying her friend on her back. "She's too heavy to carry for long."

"Kodansha could carry her." Juri pointed out, smiling.

"I think Alex should carry her." Kodansha swung the focus onto Alex with a smug grin.

"Uh, me?" Alex asked unusually unsure. 

"Yeah, go on! I think you should!" Liana smiled.

"Y'know, I'm not sure whether I can do that…"

"Carry her, dammit!" Liana yelled, then grinned.

Alex mumbled something before dropping to one knee and dragging Carlie onto his back.

"Now we must hurry on." The Princess said, a slight giggle allowing her amusement with the subject to slip.

"We'll be okay, you better get outta sight before the Queen finds out it's you." Liana smiled at her. "We're already very thankful for your help."

"It will only be a matter of time before she figures out, I fear. I simply cannot stay here." The young girl shook her head.

"Then we'll protect you." Kodansha said grimly, walking ahead with Alex to the armoury. As the SeeD arrived inside they were greeted with the sight of two Centra investigating the myriad weapons of the Garden members.

"Hands off that gunblade." Alex placed Carlie against an ammunition crate, before turning to the Centran man holding his Twin Mithril gunblade.

Kodansha ran forward and threw herself into a dropkick, knocking the Centran man senseless. The Gunblade fell to the floor with a clatter, as the female Centran ran forward and swung for Kodansha with Juri's Oniyari. Kodansha's eyes widened and she back flipped onto a light fitting quickly, which promptly collapsed beneath her. As she fell, Alex ran forward and took the Gunblade from the floor, turning to face the Centran woman.

"Hit her!" Juri called, running up.

Alex charged forward, but his attack lost momentum as he neared and his opponent viciously struck against the gunblade, knocking him back. She ran forward attacking him more with the Oniyari. He brought the gunblade up and blocked the attacks, but didn't strike out.

Suddenly a gunshot rung out and the Centran woman cringed, holding her shoulder before dropping to the ground in front of him. Behind where she'd been, Liana stood with one of her pistols outstretched and a slight smile on her face.

"What happened to you?" Juri walked over and picked up her Oniyari as more SeeD and students poured into the armoury.

"Um…" Alex sighed, folding his arms and looking away at the floor.

"Ya can't hit girls?" Liana laughed.

"You see right through me." Alex said monotonously.

"Let's just hit the road." Kodansha said, taking her short, straight sword from a case. "Though not literally, with our distinct shortage of roads." She grinned momentarily.

"Kody… was that a joke?" Liana smiled. "Did you just crack a light-hearted comment?"

"Get over it kid." Kodansha grunted, and began to rummage around the piles of weapons and items. Liana grinned to herself.

The many students and Garden staff had gathered their weapons and began to head out of the armoury with haste. Kodansha made a grab for another of the Centran guns she'd acquired earlier, but Alex tugged at her shoulder to restrain her.

"It'll only slow you down." He cautioned.

Kodansha looked back for a moment, then nodded in a silent sign of acknowledgement. The two SeeD followed the rest of their companions out of the door and down the corridor toward the hangar, Alex picking up Carlie as he went. At the front of the crowd of prisoners, Liana and Juri ran with the Princess. Both the SeeD and the Shadow Hunter kept a careful eye around them, both to protect the princess and be ready for any danger to themselves and the Garden's students. After running for a while, they paused at an intersection of passages. A tired Headmaster Cid and slightly more energetic Xu stepped past the students.

"Which way is the hangar?" Xu asked. The Centran princess pointed silently to a tall doorway on their left. They walked up to it, and the Princess slid her ID pin into the slot. With a swift click, the tall doorway opened to reveal the massive interior hangar.

The huge bay was filled with long boat-like airships hanging in mid-air, long elegant Centran craft. The hangar door was closed ahead, a similar opening to the one the Garden had come through.

"To let in your friends, we'll have to open those blast doors. They're far too tough to be destroyed easily." The Princess explained as Alex and Kodansha stepped up to them. "I need some people to come with me, and some to head for the nearest empty docking port to the hangar entrance."

Headmaster Cid nodded. "I would like Xu to command defence here. Alex and Juri, assist the Princess in opening the doors. Take Nida with you for technical advice."

"Understood." Alex nodded.

"Alrighty." Liana grinned. "Kodansha and I will help the defence here."

"Here," Xu tossed a small radio to Alex. "Keep in contact."

Alex nodded. "Let's go."

***

Juri turned to see Alex had caught up, but Nida and the Centran were still running. As they rounded the corner, a group of four Centran Guards turned around, drawing out weapons… 

To the surprise of the SeeD and Shadow Hunter, they had gunblades. Or at least, some twisted equivalent.

"Alex, keep going with the Princess and Carlie, I'll catch up with you." Juri said, before leaping forward and striking one of the Centra down with her Oniyari.

"Right." Alex nodded, stepping with Nida and the Princess. "Don't do anything stupid!" He called after her.

Juri grinned to herself, before engaging another Centran. She leapt upwards into the air, higher than was rationally possible. The guards looked around, momentarily puzzled that their enemy appeared to have disappeared. Suddenly she came down from nowhere, lancing her weapon into another guard. Seeing her weak point appear, one of the two remaining Centra cast a Demi spell on her. She winced under the pain, falling forward with a cry. Rolling over, she looked up at her enemy as the second cast Firaga on her. She gritted her teeth as the flames ravaged her senses. The fire was not real, only the pain was. The fearful effect of magic. 

She struggled to stand, when one of the guards turned to look at something. As if from nowhere, Alex ran forward and struck down one of the guards with his gunblade and began to duel the other. Juri stepped wearily forward as Alex struck down the remaining Centran.

"What did you come back for? You have to protect the Princess, she has the ID pin!" Juri said to him.

"That's a chance I had to take." Alex shrugged. "Nida and the Princess will be okay, and Carlie's with them."

"What?" Juri shook her head.

"Hey, hang on. Look!" Alex pointed to the gunblade on the dead Centran's body. As they watched, the gunblade slowly morphed into a small, thin rod.

"What the..?" Juri frowned.

"Let's just go, and think about it later." Alex urged.

"Right." Juri nodded in agreement.

Xu and Liana ran along the thin gantry carefully, trying to attain a balance between speed and caution. The Esthar ship would be here any second, and the Princess had said it would only be a matter of time before Queen Marie can get the circuits re-routed for the shield, engine and weapons systems.

They neared the empty gantry clamp, and stood ready. The Centra probably knew they were here, and it would only be a matter of time before they started to make a nuisance of themselves.

"I'll keep a watch over this doorway." Liana drew her two pistols and crouched beside a large, oddly shaped container.

"One of those Centran guns would've been really useful for this." Kodansha mumbled. "(Why didn't I take one? I shouldn't have listened to him. Just because somebody says something, I guess it doesn't mean it's right.)"

"Something wrong, Miss Fujal?" Xu asked her.

"Nothing, thankyou. And my name is Kodansha." The SeeD ninja corrected.

Xu shrugged. She had heard of Kodansha Fujal from a colleague in Galbadia Garden, so she had known what to expect when the ninja had joined them.

"Heads up, guys. Here they come." Liana grimaced as a number of Centrans appeared at the hangar doorway far beneath them. Taking a case from a student standing nearby, she pulled her sniper rifle from it and laid aim.

"What're you gonna do, shoot them all?" Xu asked. There was no trace of either approval or condemnation in her words.

"No." Liana replied. "I'm going to try and pin them down."

Queen Marie stood and gave a sigh of frustration.

"I will conduct this myself, as you all appear to be so incapable." She announced, stepping out of the throne room and into the corridor.

"You two, there." She barked. "With me. I will not allow these insolent monkey-children to escape me like this." She strode angrily into the opened control cockpit of a large robot dragon, bigger than the previous ones she had used. The two other Centrans walked in and sat down inside.

"Let's show them who they're dealing with." She smirked as the jaw-like canopy of the machine descended over herself and her two pilots, and the giant mechanical dragon arose before diving into a hole that led into the network of tubes to the hangar…

The Princess slid her ID pin into the hole again, but the error simply repeated itself. 'No authorised codes'.

"Damn…" Juri cursed.

"She must've locked out my codes." The Princess realised. "She knows."

Alex punched the hard steel wall in anger. "There's gotta be something we can do. We're runnin' out of time, fast."

Liana cursed and abandoned her position next to a cargo crate. She quickly scuttled over to Xu, who was surveying the closing Centra.

"I can't pin them anymore, they're using dragon-like robots again." Liana sighed. "The soldiers just hide behind them."

"You've seen these dragon machines before?" Xu kept her eye on a distant group of Centran soldiers. Suddenly they looked up toward the two SeeD, and one of them launched a salvo of rockets from her gun, the same sort Kodansha had found.

Liana and Xu dived in opposite directions as the rockets flew past and exploded against the massive bulkhead. Pieces of the projectiles and a cloud of dust sprayed the hangar walkway they stood on, but the bulkhead seemed unscathed.

"Yeah, when we first met the Queen we met some…" Liana grunted, standing up slowly. Both she and Xu were now concealed behind two large containers on either side of the gap the rockets had come from.

"The Centra seem to have two hand-held weapons." Xu deduced. "One is a large rapid-fire hand cannon with a rocket launcher, the other is a morphing rod that imitates enemy weapons."

"I noticed some return fire from sniper rifles." Liana nodded, their conversation still being called over a four-meter gap.

"I think it's so they can adapt to our fighting strategies. The other gun is just for extra heavy firepower." Xu concluded.

"Let's see them adapt to this…" Liana peered around the corner with her rifle…

"What's the situation, ma'am?" Alex queried Xu on the radio, looking around the silent control room as Nida and the Princess desperately worked on opening the hangar doors. Carlie lay peacefully in the corner against the wall, a slight smile frozen on her face.

"Kodansha is a little injured, but I think she'll be okay. We have four casualties, and can barely hold our perimeter. You must get those doors open."

"The Princess' ID pin no longer works, we're gonna have to try something different." Alex informed her, holding the radio up to his lips as he spoke again.

"Understood, Alex. Make this quick. Xu out." 

"Hey, I think I've found out how to bypass the authorisation code." Nida said calmly, clamping onto the panel one of several electronic devices he had carried.

"Let's get ready to get outta here." Alex picked up Carlie again.

Juri tapped him on the shoulder. "It appears we have some company." She nodded to the doorway. A large dragon robot, even bigger than the ones they'd seen when they'd first entered Centrotia, had entered the huge doorway at the far end of the corridor outside the control room.

Alex and Juri exchanged a glance before running forward to seal the doors of the control room. They reached the console just in time to slam down the large door in front of the machine. Both took several steps back, watching helplessly as the machine re-opened the door with its claws

Its metallic surface was smooth and organic like the others, but its back was ribbed with thin, spiky fins. Like the smaller ones, it also had long and spindly legs like a centipede and a fearsome mask-like head. It glared at them with blood-red eyes.

"You want a piece of me?" Alex grinned, resting his gunblade on his shoulder and taunting with an outstretched hand.

"I think it probably wants lots of pieces of both of us…" Juri eyed both Alex and the dragon lightly.

"Keep it busy!" Nida called out, keeping his eyes on the panel.

"You what? How do you suggest we do that?" Alex grunted, still watching the giant dragon-machine as it prepared to strike.

"Read it a story?" The princess smiled.

"Not the time for sarcasm!" Juri's voice got higher as the dragon went for her. She leapt high into the air as a lashing whip struck out from one of the many strange gadgets attached to the robot. Landing on its neck behind its head, she struck hard at it with her weapon, before it threw her off. She landed harshly next to Alex, who had just laid Carlie down again and drawn his Twin Mithril gunblade.

"You okay?" Alex kneeled over her, keeping his eye on the giant dragon-machine's movement.

"My Oniyari is not very effective against machines." Juri grunted.

"Thankfully that's one of the most vulnerable things to my gunblade." Alex stood and swiped at the monster to draw its attention from Nida and the Princess.

He ran forward and swung at the dragonhead, a loud gunshot ringing out as he hit it. It swung its head back, as if wincing, before slamming it back down on the floor right where Alex had stood. Throwing himself backward, he barely avoided the crushing might of the machine and rolled back to his feet.

"It's tough." He stated.

"Then let's toast it." Juri crossed over her hands and cast a powerful Thundara spell, weakening the dragon-machine.

Having stood against the onslaught of attack, the robot retaliated. Raising its head, it fired a lilac-coloured beam that struck Alex, knocking him down to the floor.

"Shit!" Juri cursed, rolling to the side as the beam shot out in her direction. In a swirl of colours, she summoned a GF, Terrorfly. A strange, indescribably unique creature appeared as the SeeD and Shadow Hunter faded, before a bright light engulfed the dragon-machine. Alex and Juri re-appeared before the robot to see it had been petrified and was frozen still. Juri quickly stepped over to Alex, and revived him from unconsciousness with a Phoenix Down.

"Ugh.. thanks Juri." Alex grunted, looking up at the robot, which remained totally motionless.

"We've done it, the doors should be working now." Nida grinned.

With a nod, Alex hit the button on the radio to speak. "Xu?"

"Alex? It's Liana! Xu's hurt, but she'll be okay. Please tell me you have those doors working, the Esthar ship is trying to get in." In the background of Liana's crackled transmission the sound of battle could be heard.

"The doors are working." Alex grinned.

"All right!" Liana cheered. "Get yourselves over here quickly. Me out."

Alex chuckled at her radio talk as he switched the unit off and lifted Carlie again.

Suddenly, terror ran through them as the robotic dragon turned its head to look at them as they reached the door. A voice emanated from it like the curse of an evil phantom.

"You can petrify my pilot, but not me!"

The Kalevala slowly slid into the hangar, it's guns covering the SeeD. As it docked, they ran as fast as they could down the boarding gantry to it. Tim noticed Centrans entering one of the warships docked ahead.

"Check it out." Annie pointed at them.

"Mmn, I know." Tim nodded. "We'd better get going soon."

"Why wait before firing?" The SeeD that had come with Tim, named Amardus, asked.

"We can't shoot our main guns while the ship is docked, the recoil will snap the boarding gantry in half." Tim replied in a frustrated tone.

"The infantry guns won't harm it, then I guess?" Annie asked.

"No. Besides, we need them to cover the Garden dudes." Tim said.

Liana ran into the observation room they were in. "Almost got everyone aboard… oh, hi Tim!" She gave a brief smile. "We still got some peeps left, they had to unlock the doors from elsewhere and they're gonna take a mo."

"What? The warships are getting powered up right now!" Tim exclaimed. "We can't stay longer than about two minutes."

"We aren't leaving without them, so we go when they get here!" Liana said sternly.

The students and staff of the Garden crowded onto the gantry as a SeeD ninja rushed them on.

"Run like fu-" Kodansha's sentence was cut short by an explosion as a missile shot impacted next to the boarding ramp. She gritted her teeth and braced her torn and gashed arm that bled through the bandages. Around her the personnel of Garden fell to the floor as dust and shards of flooring and metal flew about. The thunder of the Kalevala's anti-infantry machineguns resumed as the smoke cleared a little, pinning back the Centran squads.

As the last of the Garden personnel ran up the gantry, Kodansha took a glance to see Alex, carrying Carlie, and Juri running toward them with Nida and the Princess alongside. Behind them was a giant dragon machine like the ones they had seen before only much larger.

"Kodansha! Run for it." Alex called out, trying to keep up a run while carrying an unconscious teenager.

Kodansha ran for the dead body of a nearby Centran, heaving the massive Centran heavy gun with her healthy arm. With great strength and effort she lifted the gun up to level it at the dragon and fired. Although the shots sprayed out, the accuracy was nevertheless impressive for someone who could only use one hand. Alex, Juri, Nida and the Princess ran past her as she continued to fire, stepping backward onto the gantry.

The dragon closed in relentlessly, shrugging off the sheer wall of bullets as it approached Kodansha, who having run out of ammo slumped to the floor in defeat. The dragon moved in, it's red eyes glowing brighter as it readied an attack on the exhausted SeeD.

Suddenly a small device bounced past Kodansha onto the floor underneath the giant dragon-machine.

Realising what it was, Kodansha turned and almost dragged herself up the gantry, looking up at Liana who was at the top. A deafening explosion right behind Kodansha caused her to fly forwards a way, landing just outside the hatchway to the Esthar ship. Getting up to run in, she turned to look at the dragon monster that lay with a shattered head. Queen Marie dragged herself out of it angrily as the Kalevala's door closed behind her.

"Now we're getting' out of here, right?" Liana looked over her shoulder to Tim.

He nodded. "We'll help the wounded, go help Alex in the cockpit."

She smiled and ran to the elevator.

The Kalevala backed away carefully with tiny manoeuvring thrusters, jetting it slowly backward toward the closing door. Small infantry guns pelted it but failed to make any effect as it neared the hangar doors in full reverse. As the guns of the Esthar airship pummelled at the docked Centran warships, causing them severe damage, slowly the doors began to close.

Queen Marie clenched her fists in anticipation. The Kalevala wasn't going to make it. It was going too slow.

Suddenly, a bright projectile flew out of a long barrel on the Esthar craft, sending a crippling pulse of energy into the bowels of the hangar. Even more infuriating, the recoil of the shot had caused the Kalevala to go flying out of the hangar doors.

She buried her face in her hands. "Damn those monkey-children…"

***

"Whoo hoo! This is sooo cool!" Liana bounced up and down in her seat. Around them the clouds skimmed past the gleaming airship and the sky was a beautiful deep blue. The large domed roof of the cockpit was almost like the dome of the sky itself.

"You wanna drive it?" Alex asked, sitting at the other seat next to her.

"Ooooh, really? Yeah, yeah!" She nodded.

He hit a switch to swap the controls to her. She smiled widely, feeling the response of the controls move her and the massive craft wherever she wanted.

"I'm… really flying." She sighed happily.

"You are." Alex smiled, keeping his eyes ahead. The cockpit was empty but for both of them, though noise downstairs seemed to be closing.

"I could do this." She grinned, banking smoothly from side to side.

"Why don't you?" he asked with a smile.

Liana nodded. "Yeah… I will!"

Juri appeared at the hatchway with Tim and Annie and the two SeeD turned to look at them.

"Wounded are taken care of. Kodansha and Xu are recovering and Carlie resting on a medical berth." Juri reported. "Sorry, are we interrupting?"

Alex laughed. "No, don't worry." He switched on the autopilot.

"Hi guys. I'm Annie. Um, Tilgari." Annie said shyly.

Liana opened her mouth to say something but Alex clamped a hand over it quickly.

"Uh, so you're the Magic Bandit?" He asked.

"Yeah." She nodded.

"She stole magic from Centrotia." Tim said grimly. "Don't worry, I don't think she meant any harm."

Alex nodded, looking at Annie. "I bet Tim and the others have already had a go at you, I'm sure you've already heard anything I'll say." He shrugged.

Liana turned back toward the pilot console. "We can't just let it pass… Carlie is missing, and we may not be able to find her. It was all just too much trouble to let it pass."

Alex smiled at her. "True, but this is too happy a moment to be spoiled by laying blame. We've escaped, and what's done is done. Let's just focus on finding Carlie and getting her back."

Liana smiled. "I guess so. You know where we're going?"

"Fly on." Alex replied. "We're going to Esthar."

***

The Kalevala had landed beside Ragnarok at Esthar Airstation. As the engines cooled, the group of friends walked from the main entrance of the Airstation toward the vast network of transparent coloured walkways that spanned the enigmatic city. Alex wore a very slight smile, walking alongside Juri who was admiring the beautiful city once more. Both of them had been to Esthar before. Kodansha and Liana followed a few steps behind, looking around in awe at the majestic spires and almost alien grandness. Tim and Annie followed with them.

A presidential aide came toward them, they recognised him as Kiros as he stepped up to Tim and Annie.

"President Loire heard you were returning." He told them. "He said to tell you to meet with Dr. Odine and Morju at the ABM building. He thinks Odine might be able to answer a few of your questions."

"Right." Tim nodded. "We know where that is."

"Lead the way." Alex said.

The six companions hurried to a seat lift which rose slightly before darting off down the tunnels, past the palace and toward the east side of the city.

***

Tim stepped into the ABM building's main office to see Morju and Dr. Odine sitting relaxed. The doctor was a strange man, full of odd eccentricities, but it seemed some of his madness had subsided since he had begun working with Morju over the last couple of years. As the six teenagers entered, they greeted the two wise elders.

"Hi," Juri fronted the greeting, "I'm Juri and this is Alex, Li-"

"Oh, don't worry, we know who you are." Morju surprised her with a kind smile. "Welcome. I am Morju, and you've probably heard of Dr. Odine from the Ultimecia Crisis three years ago."

The doctor nodded happily. "Yes, renound my work. Indeed."

"I hear you can clear up some matters for us?" Alex asked bluntly.

Odine grinned and nodded again. "I have all ze answers."

"I suppose you want to know who these Centrans are, for a start. Mmmn?" Morju smiled.

Tim nodded.

"Let's start with that." Alex agreed.

Dr. Odine raised his voice a little, above his usual muttering level. "Well you must understand zat one thousand years ago, ze tribes of humankind were next to nothing. Ze world vas ruled by ze might of ze Shumi and ze Centra. For some reason zat ve do not know, zey found themselves at war. Ze ferocity of ze two sides clashing sometimes spilled ze violence over to ze un-noticeable creatures beneath them, our ancestors.

Ze Shumi and Centra almost entirely destroyed each other. Ze final blow came when, in desperation on ze verge of defeat, ze Shumi used powerful magic to summon a Lunar Tear. As it came crashing down onto ze continent, ze Centra race vere overwhelmed and destroyed. However, using advanced time-compression technology, ze Queen and her island apparently escaped into ze future, and took ze best of their fleet with them."

"So they only arrived now…" Alex nodded in understanding.

Odine confirmed with a manic nod. "Ze Shumi went into hiding from those Centrans zat had survived ze Lunar Tear, and retreated to their old, underground city in ze far north. Slowly ze remains of ze Centra died out, and almost nothing remains of them on ze Centra continent. Only ruins of their far north colonies on ze Esthar continent remained. Slowly humans began to reclaim ze wrecked world, with ze beginning of Galbadia, Dollet, Timber and Balamb. As zey spread out, one small group discovered amazing things on ze Esthar continent. Zey began to delve into ze Centran technology, while isolating themselves from ze rest of ze world. Those people vere ze ancestors of Esthar."

"So if humans had nothing to do with the war between the Centra and the Shumi, why did Centrotia attack Balamb Garden?" Tim asked.

Morju turned to her. "Shumi battleships were mobile fortresses, buildings that were able to fly when needed. When Master Norg built Balamb Garden, he used the same Shumi technology that built the old battlefleet."

"So when the Centra saw it, they must've believed the Shumi had survived the millennia and aught to be eliminated." Juri nodded in understanding.

"That would explain the look on Queen Marie's face when she first saw us inside Centrotia." Kodansha mused.

"So how do we find Carlie?" Alex asked.

"I have invented a machine zat is able to located anything with a significant, unique power signature anywhere in ze world. Since invention, my machine seemed to have a problem." Dr. Odine began to explain. "Every time I calibrated it to search for ze energy signature of Balamb Garden, ze readings would not add up." 

"But I think now we know why." Morju smiled. 

Dr. Odine tapped a few keys on the machine's operation console. He stared as a number of digits filled the screen, then other displays seemed to be shifting across a diagram that looked like the world map.

"Why?" Kodansha said, the pause having lasted too long for her tolerance.

Odine pointed at the cross that had appeared on the map in the ocean south of Fisherman's Horizon.

"Because since ze Garden was built until when it was sent back, zere have been two Gardens. For ze last thousand years, it seems zere has been a Balamb Garden sitting on ze seabed south of Fisherman's Horizon!"

"Weird…" Alex shook his head.

"Amazing it hasn't been discovered." Juri commented.

"It's probably embedded quite deep." Morju suggested.

"I heard Balamb Garden can work underwater." Kodansha said. "Though it's not surprising when you consider it was made by fish." She smirked.

"Shumi aren't fish, they're just kinda aquatic." Annie said with child-like innocence.

"They're fish, kiddo." Kodansha glanced over for a moment.

"Carlie…" Alex said suddenly, as if he'd heard her voice call out somewhere distant. There was a short pause as Alex gathered his thoughts. "You think she hid the Garden there?"

"Dunno." Juri, who was standing beside him, shrugged and looked down. "I hope so. The only other possibility is that she crashed there."

"We gotta go investigate it anyway." Liana grinned. "We get to see Carlie again!" 

"The Kalevala has small exploration pods designed for working when the ship is in space, but they'll operate equally well underwater." Morju informed them.

Alex nodded, then smiled. "Then finding the Garden will be easy."

"Zat is not ze way I vould describe it." Dr. Odine countered. "Ze power source vill most likely need replacement, so you vill have to install this fusion battery of mine." He pointed to the large pack on the floor.

"Then let's go find Carlie." Liana shifted from one foot to the other and back again repeatedly.

"Just a moment, you do not know how ze battery fits. I have written these instructions for you." Odine handed them a neat Esthar electronic pad.

Morju smiled briefly, before a bleeper in her pocket came to her attention. She quickly responded by answering it discreetly in the hope of not interrupting them all. She listened to the message relayed to it, and her expression became full of concern.

"We have a problem." She said after the message had finished. "Esthar Airstation is being attacked."

"By what?" Dr. Odine asked.

"A man is fighting his way past our guards; they can't hold him back." Morju explained.

"It's him." Alex grimaced, before beginning to head out of the ABM office. As he quickly hurried off, the other five rushed after him.

***

"Get out of my way." The mysterious man commanded. 

The Esthar soldier stood fast, refusing to move. "I will not subdue to a terrorist." He replied, his voice oddly distorted through the strange helmet he wore that was part of the standard Esthar soldier uniform.

"You insult me. I am no such low-life." The man's voice was clear and subtle, with a sharp and focused edge to it.

"Stay back." The other Esthar soldier standing next to his comrade chipped in.

"Insolent fools. Do you realise who you are dealing with?" The man laughed darkly.

A voice from behind him momentarily diverted his attention. "Let them go, Almiroth. It's not them you want…" Gary whirled around to see Alex as the SeeD completed his sentence, "… it's me."

"You… I seem to remember you didn't know me." Gary replied coyly.

"I just remembered." Alex scowled and drew his Twin Mithril gunblade.

"Last time you were just lucky, but the power of my junctioned GF far surpasses your worst nightmare." Gary sniggered.

"That doesn't make much difference if you can't hit shit…" Alex retorted.

Almiroth gritted his teeth and flung forward at Alex, their gunblades meeting with the shriek of metal and bringing them both locked still for a moment. Behind them the other five caught up but dared not approach the duel between the gunbladers.

Alex swung the Twin Mithril low to counter Gary's upward sweeps, with the gleaming blade striking sparks off each collision. Alex then swung a high horizontal arc, which Gary ducked and then countered with a spin. Anticipating the attack, Alex span his gunblade to a vertical position and deflected the blow. Both combatants were knocked a step backward.

No more than a second later Gary leapt into attack again with savage ferocity, striking at the SeeD with downward arcs. Alex tried to defend against them, bracing a hand behind the blunted edge of the sword as the intensity of Almiroth's assault escalated. Each blow caused him to be pushed back, until he dived to the side and rolled to avoid the pirate's last attack. Getting back to his feet, he launched an attack on his opponent, leaping forward and bearing the gunblade down on Gary. The gunblade pirate responded with an almost inhuman leap backward, somersaulting to land on his feet.

"What chance does a mortal SeeD stand against me?" Gary teased.

"You talk too much…" Alex grunted, carefully approaching and preparing for a counter strike. Almiroth leapt forward and the pair of combatants dodged and weaved for minutes, each painstakingly near miss causing rising anxiety in those around them. 

Suddenly they locked into a martial moment and Gary flung Alex onto his back. The pirate struck down against the hard coloured flooring of the Esthar walkway but Alex had already rolled to the side and back on his feet. Anger raising inside, Gary charged at the SeeD one last time, striking out three times. A horizontal slice, blocked. A diagonal slice, blocked. A vertical arc, barely blocked. Alex stumbled backward again.

As he dragged himself back onto his feet, Gary barged at him furiously, sending him flying into the side of the walkway. Alex landed on his stomach, spitting a mouthful of blood onto the floor. Wiling his muscles to move, he rose upward to face his enemy again.

Amused by the SeeD's persistence, Gary walked up leisurely and smacked Alex backward onto the floor again. As if in slow motion, the pirate brought his gunblade back behind his head, ready to strike the final blow. Gary grinned and stepped forward as the gunblade began to swing down…

"No!" Suddenly Liana appeared as if from nowhere, running out in front of the gunblade. Almiroth mercilessly swung the weapon out, pulling the trigger.

KLA-CHUNK!

Alex's eyes widened in horror. He stooped down as Liana toppled backward, catching her in mid-fall. Kneeling down, he stared at the long gash across Liana's torso. His gaze moved up to Almiroth, who remained still for a moment with a dark look. Turning away cruelly, the gunblade pirate walked unopposed from the shattered scene. The other four companions stepped over to them.

"Oh… my…" Annie shook her head.

"Liana…" Juri couldn't believe what she saw.

Alex remained silent, a tear forming in his eye. He shook his head slowly. No. She couldn't be…

Standing and changing from sorrow to fury, Juri pointed at the pirate. "I'll make you pay…" She yelled, running up to him. The gunblade pirate turned and raised a hand, and in only moments Juri became a figure of stone. The gunblade pirate continued to head toward the Airstation, climbing into the Ragnarok.

"He's stealing it! We gotta do something." Tim said desperately.

"We can't do a damn thing." Kodansha cursed, stepping over to use a soft to cure Juri of her petrification. Sirens of an Esthar ambulance came nearer as a hovering craft descended onto the scene. Without opposition, the Ragnarok lifted off Esthar Airstation's platform into the sky and darted away into the evening sky.

Alex continued to look into Liana's closed eyes, cradling her like a fallen angel. She had saved him… she didn't deserve this! He felt his tears mix with the blood on his face. Pain ran through him, like his soul had been plucked away and battered to death before being returned. This Almiroth… all he ever did was take away what Alex cared about. 

"(I will find you Gary.)" Alex promised silently through gritted teeth and crystal tears. "(I will make you feel the pain I've felt because of you. You will crash, Almiroth. And then I'll make you burn.)" He sank his head.

Suddenly Alex noticed a faint movement. Liana was still breathing!

"Get that ambulance over here, now!" he called out.


	6. Part V - Sleeping Beneath the Waves

Part IV Alex Webb Alex Webb 3 3857 2001-11-02T01:39:00Z 2001-11-02T01:39:00Z 13 9970 46861 Vivid Horizons 997 454 69792 9.3821 6 pt 6 pt 0 

The regular beeping of the medical scanner was all to be heard in one of Esthar's spacious hospital's emergency rooms. Liana lay unconscious on a long medical bed, breathing very shallowly. Alex sat silently beside the bed. The room was almost empty, only a few pieces of equipment and another four empty berths populated it. One wall consisted almost entirely of a huge window that looked out across the city in the quiet night.

Alex's head buzzed with thoughts. Emotion surged through him; anger, regret and sadness in equal measure. 

"(Saved by a fallen angel.)" He mused. "(It wasn't the way things had to go. She loves life too much, why did she do this? I should be lying there on the brink of death. She has too much to live for.)"

He turned and looked at her peaceful expression.

"(But you can't die. I know you're stronger than that. There's too many people that'll miss you… I'll miss you.)"

The doctor that had operated on her said they'd arrived just in time. Any later and she would have been already dead. Nevertheless the doctor had also told them that if she doesn't regain consciousness by dawn there is little chance she will ever wake up at all. 

Alex remained almost as still as Liana, hanging his head in deep thought. Outside the large window, the blackness of the sky began to turn to a deep purple colour with an aura of reddish pink. Over time the twinkling stars began to fade as the sky grew a little lighter.

"(Common' Liana. Wake up. Please.)"

The sound of footsteps came from behind him. He turned slowly to see Juri was standing respectfully at the door, her hands clasped together in front of her.

"Would you prefer I left you alone?" the Shadow Hunter asked.

"That's okay." Alex replied.

"I think you should get some sleep, Alex." Juri recommended. "You've been here all night."

"I know." The SeeD replied simply, resting his grim face in the palm of his left hand.

"How is she?"

"Not good." Alex shook his head.

"You know… I think she must have cared about you a lot to do something like that."

"Whatever." Alex replied slightly irritably. "I find that hard to believe."

"Why? I think it goes without saying." Juri sat down on the chair at the other end of the bed.

"It was probably an accident. She did it without thinking."

"Of course she did it without thinking." Juri smiled.

The gunblader looked at her oddly. "I don't get you."

"You still have a thing or two to learn, Alex Kinnhart." Juri smiled kindly.

She turned to Liana then her expression changed to surprise. Alex turned too, then noticed something. Liana's eyes were… opening! Slowly, but… she was actually waking.

"Liana?!?" Alex exclaimed.

Her eyelids flicked silently open, and she stared around her for a moment. There was a pause for what seemed like an eternity of anticipation, before a smile appeared on her face.

"Hi Alex. Hi Juri." She said weakly.

Alex gave a sigh of relief. "You made it!"

"Those Esthar doctors are amazing." Juri nodded.

Liana blinked a few times. "So this isn't heaven?" she croaked.

Alex chuckled. "No. I'm glad to see you pulled through."

"Don't lie." Juri giggled. "You're jubilant! And you aren't very good at hiding it."

Alex eventually nodded with a smile. "Okay, so maybe I am."

Juri turned to Liana with a grin. "He's been sitting here all night. Go figure."

"Really…? That's sweet of you." Liana tried to sit up a little, her face and voice still sleepy and weary.

"You saved my life." Alex shook his head. "I couldn't sleep without knowing you were alright."

"I think my memory's a bit fuzzy… all I recall was… running out in front of Almiroth." Liana explained slowly.

"Yes… Almiroth." Alex narrowed his eyes a little for a brief moment.

"He stole the Ragnarok." Juri mentioned with a nod. A short pause followed.

"The next thing I remember was a voice calling out to me, beckoning me back to life." Liana continued as they remained silent. "Like a voice in my head. I could hear Alex faintly, too. And then I found myself awake."

"The important thing is that you're alright." Alex's serious tone brought another smile to Juri's face.

"Don't worry about me." Liana grinned. "Liana's indestructible, yesh she is."

Alex chuckled again. "Guess it seems like it."

"Still hurts though." she gritted her teeth momentarily.

"I'll bet. But we may have to come back to Esthar when you're better." Alex sighed.

"No way, I'm coming." Liana protested.

"You kidding? Look at yourself." Alex shook his head.

"Hey, she can rest on the Kalevala if she wants." Juri shrugged. "It'll be a smooth ride."

"Uh," Alex scratched the back of his head uncomfortably. "Well… I guess so."

A tall male Esthar doctor walked in and smiled as he reached the three of them at the bed. "Good to see you awake, Miss Heartilmitt. You should be fully recovered in only days, it was merely a flesh wound and a case of heavy concussion."

"Hey, that means you can come along when we look for the Garden!" Juri smiled.

"Whoo…" Liana bounced a little, then winced slightly with the pain. "Esthar medicine is cool…"

"More Curaga than any other hospital in the world. Your toughness is even more impressive." The doctor commented.

"Couldn't have done it without ya." She replied, her eyes still low with her weariness. "You guys really are something."

"We certainly are…" The doctor grinned, before a bout of modesty hit him and he looked to his feet. "…doing our job, I suppose."

"Liana, if the recovery is good enough in three days, I'm sure we can pursuade Xu to let you come with us." Juri grinned.

"I will. Dun' wanna be sitting around in a hospital, do I?" She giggled slightly.

*                                     *                                     *

Admiral Fire Ceremony walked into the lift with grace and pride, though his mind was certainly fixed on matters elsewhere. The repairs on the hangar had been busy all day, though the Queen seemed distressed about the whole matter.

The lift reached Her Highness' Observatory floor, and Fire Ceremony gave a momentary smile as the doors of the chamber slid open and he walked in. Before him the shattered and disheartened Queen Marie sat at her desk in somewhere between musing and moping. The dim twilight of dusk shone through the large, rounded windows that surrounded the chamber.

"Your Ladyship?" He asked sensitively.

The beautiful queen looked up, her face the epitome of sorrow and frustration. The graceful glyph and dark shadowing around her eyes had been smudged by tears and fingermarks. "Admiral?"

"Your Ladyship, I am truly sorry about yesterday's events. I should have been more cautious and mobilised the fleet." He apologised, though with a firm tone.

"And dis-obeyed my orders?" Marie questioned. "No, it was my mistake, not yours."

"We all make mistakes, your Ladyship. And often far more frivolous than this." Fire Ceremony reminded her. "You should not reprimand yourself."

"Indeed no. The first thing you should do when you make a mistake is take immediate steps to correct it." The Queen smiled slightly.

Fire Ceremony strolled over to the window of the Queen's observation chamber and looked out across the shifting clouds. "What do you suggest, good Queen?" He asked with a look of deep inquisition.

"Do we have co-ordinates for that city… the one of monkey-children on Balamb Garden's database?" She pulled up a holographic map of the world.

"Indeed." The Admiral nodded, stepping over to her desk. "Esthar city. It is located… here." He pointed to it on the holographic globe.

"Then we will see to it that yesterday's losses will be paid for in blood by the people of this… Esthar." She grinned.

"A frontal assault would be harsh, dear Queen." Fire Ceremony stated. "We were last seen to the south-west, so they will be prepared for our attack on the south-west side of the city."

"True. I assume you have a solution to this?" The Queen asked slyly.

"Of course, your Ladyship. As this projection so beautifully illustrates, the planet is round." He smiled, smoothing his hand around the globe the opposite way. "If we delay our attack by two days more, we can assault from the north-east."

Queen Marie grinned. "You always know how to cheer me up, don't you?"

                   *                                     *                                     *

Dawn was about to break, a crisp haze of dim blue ready to pull back and reveal another day. The city of Esthar was at it's quietest before dawn, a tranquil yet surreal wonder to behold. Juri leant forward on the balcony of the tall hospital building and smiled, finally content to be here. It had taken a while, but she had returned here at last. The only place that resembled a home. True, she was indeed a wanderer, like Alex.

It was funny, Alex had said he knew his home, but it didn't feel like home anymore because he'd been away too long. With her, it was almost the opposite; she never really had a home but her memories of Esthar always made it feel like this wonderous city was the next best thing.

She took another long breath of the fresh morning air. Bliss. Dawn in Esthar was a vastly underrated wonder of the world. They'd been here for some days now, they were due to leave tomorrow morning.

"Juri?" Liana's tranquil voice came. She still wasn't quite back to her energetic and bouncy self just yet, and her voice was as calm and quiet as the morning. Juri turned to her as the SeeD walked out of the doorway and stepped up to look out across the city. She wore a snug white gown supplied by the hospital, though the morning was not so cold as to make her bare feet and legs uncomfortable.

"You know, I never tire of the sight of dawn in Esthar." Juri returned.

"It *is* beautiful..." Liana nodded slowly, still talking quietly. "When I woke up, you know… from the injury. It was like… I realised I never really took the time to look at the beauty of the world. The essence of life. I took it all for granted."

"Don't blame yourself, some things you can't help take for granted." Juri pointed out. "They're just always there, for them to be un-noticable is only natural."

"Maybe. But, I really think I never got down to earth sometimes. Never slowed down to listen to silence." She smiled. "Silence can be worth listening to sometimes."

"So you feel a personal change?" Juri enquired.

"Well, it's not that I'm a different person. I'll always be me." Her smile grew into a grin.

"Well, that's good. To tell the truth, I don't like it much when people change. At least, I don't if I liked the way they were. It's like the person that you knew is gone forever. You stay happy and bouncy, girl. Okay?" Juri smiled.

"I will." Liana replied. "Liana's always happy…"

"Good." Juri leant over and hugged her briefly, before re-entering the building. Liana turned to look out at Esthar again. A breeze blew her hair slightly, as she gazed over the buildings with a distant look. She felt almost as though she had grown up in the last three or so days. She had been so close to death, and suddenly life meant more. Maybe that was what Alex had meant by the need to live on the edge? Maybe he needed to throw himself at death so he didn't take life for granted. She knew she wouldn't turn a casual eye to life anymore. Not in a long while, at least.

As she turned and walked back inside the hospital building again, a memory suddenly flashed back to her…

Liana stood in a garden of beautiful flowers and short, clean cut grass. In the distance, the sound of laughing children echoed like a memory. This was Balamb. Her back garden, and her house. And she must've be no older than eleven years. 

"Common, honey." A benevolent voice came from behind her. She turned to see her mother, standing so patiently and looking so gentle. "The parade is starting."

The Balamb Garden Parade! She'd loved the annual SeeD parade festival, it encompassed some of her happiest memories. She remembered this day well, the festival on her eleventh. The day she'd decided to join the Garden. At night she ran away to join SeeD, pretending to be an orphan. To this day she couldn't figure out why, but there was no denying her passion.

"Liana, you okay?" Alex waved a hand in front of her face.

"Huh? Oh, sorry… I was day-dreaming or something." Liana replied. "Alex, do you have any family you know of?"

"No." he replied bluntly, after a brief pause. "My parents died fighting for Timber's independence when I was two, and I'm an only child." He walked over to the large window. "I don't know of anyone else. I once thought of those at Trabia as my family. But what I don't get is… why did *you* join Garden?" he asked, sitting down at a stylish, curved table.

Liana sat down opposite, and paused for a moment, thinking. "I wasn't seeking refuge from anything… I just wanted to be a gunfighter. I don't know why, I just wanted it so badly that I ran away from home to join SeeD." She explained. "I eventually told my parents, who were furious at first but… in the end, they were happy for me."

"I hope mine would have been happy with my decision." Alex stated, then smiled. "You know, Balamb Garden is one of the few places I really felt comfortable in. Even after Trabia, it almost felt like I had a home again."

"Let's hope we can get it back then. And get Carlie back with it." she nodded, recalling her poor friend. Liana wanted to go and get her right away, but the others would have to leave without her if they went now. And she didn't want that either. "I still don't think I understand why Carlie had to go back with the Garden."

"Neither do I." Alex shook his head. "Only the Princess knows that."

                   *                                     *                                     *

The Kalevala swooped low over the ocean south of Fisherman's Horizon. The countless tiny peaks of the waves below sped past, highlighted by the moonlight. A light rain and fierce wind ravaged the sea, and the airship even more so. 

At the pilot seat in cockpit, Liana watched the display on the craft's HUD as the location of the Garden's energy signature got nearer. The small numbers to the left of the green reticle continued to rapidly decrease as she adjusted the ship's course slightly.

Behind her Xu and Nida sat in large chairs watching the ocean around them. Juri, Annie and Alex stood nearby talking quietly about something, and Kodansha was reading one of the console displays.

"Balamb Garden signature at bearing zero mark zero, distance ten kilometers and closing." She reported.

"Slow us to hover over the spot, Miss Heartilmitt." Xu said to Liana. "We need to prepare the pods for underwater exploration."

"Pods are all ready to go." Annie grinned. "I told Tim how they work, so he'll be able to tell the people going down there." 

Liana pushed a control forward to bring the airship to a stop and stood up, turning to the others around the cockpit with a light smile. "That'd be us then."

"Right." Xu began. "The mission is as follows. Liana will be leading Team Juliet. She, Kodansha and Tim are to go to the Garden's lower levels and install Dr.Odine's fusion battery pack. It will give the Garden enough power to reach the surface, so the Kalevala can assist it to Fisherman's Horizon."

"You think it will work?" Kodansha asked.

"The Garden?" Tim responded. "Hope so. I'm sure if there's any life left in it, I'll get it back to the surface." He assured them. "I'm a bit of a grease monkey, y'see."

Xu nodded. "Alex will take Team Romeo. He, Juri and the Princess will take Carlie to the computer center and return her mind to her body. Nida, Annie and I will keep contact on the Kalevala. Any questions?"

"This part of the ocean's pretty deep. Surely we won't be able to transmit too far down?" Alex asked.

Annie turned to explain to him. "The Pods will be attached by a cable to the Kalevala. Inside each pod is a radio relay, so even when you leave the pod you can radio us via the link."

"Be careful when docking," Nida warned, "the slightest disturbance could alter water pressure in areas and cause extra flooding. We know that there must still be at least some air pockets, as the computer is still functioning. Which also means Carlie should still be alright."

"Ok. Team Romeo, let's get underway." Alex and Juri headed for the door. As they left, Xu nodded to Kodansha and her group.

"Team Juliet, don't forget Carlie is our priority. Make sure the other team get their job done, even if it means leaving the Garden behind. It might be our home, but we can't risk people's lives for it."

"Understood." Liana said. The thought of losing Balamb Garden suddenly hit her, like a twist in her stomach. It was just a machine, but she couldn't help thinking it meant more than that. It was a symbol. It was a home. And it was even more than that. Even Alex had once expressed his likening for it. But to Liana, it was the only place she felt truly comfortable. "We'll try our best." She added.

"You do that. Come back safe Liana. We've nearly lost you once already, let's not go through it again." She smiled kindly.

"No problem, ma'am." The SeeD gunfighter grinned.

                   *                                     *                                     *

"Go on, Alex. She's probably expecting you, I'll wait here a sec." Juri smiled.

Alex shrugged, then walked across the corridor and tapped at the door.

"Um… Princess?" He called out awkwardly.

"Come in." She replied lightly.

Alex opened the door slowly, and stepped in. "Hello?" He looked to one side, then turned to see the Centran standing patiently. Instead of a dress she wore a very short purple Esthar tunic, with her hair tied back in a long ponytail.

"Oh…" Alex began.

"What?"

"I see you found something to wear that's a little, um…" He stopped to look for the right word.

"Shorter?" The princess chuckled.

"Um, yes, that too." Alex squirmed slightly. The Princess chuckled again, finding Alex's discomfort highly amusing.

"I couldn't very well go deep sea exploring in a dress, eh?" She explained.

"Obviously." Alex nodded. "Anyway. We're-"

"Going, yes, I know. Lead on." The Princess gestured the door.

As they left, Juri picked up Carlie from the medical bed in the nearby room and headed toward the lifts, meeting Liana and Team Juliet as they arrived.

The six mission participants made their way to the sub-pods, hurrying down the narrow corridor to the submersible-vehicles at the lower rear. As they reached the dim compartment with the entrance to the two subs on each side, the two teams turned to each other.

"Good luck." Liana said . "Take care of Carlie." Her heart was racing with the adrenalin rushing through her.

"I will. You look after yourself, okay?." Alex replied, meeting her gaze before turning to his team. He suddenly felt anxiety within for some reason, it had never reached him before. 

"Common, let's get going." Kodansha hurried.

"Yeah, not a moment to waste." Liana nodded to Tim, who pulled back one of the hatches on Team Juliet's sub.

Opposite them, Alex did the same as Juri and the Princess exchanged a glance. The two teams turned and waved to each other before entering their subs.

Liana sat down in the middle seat of the submersible, reaching up to flick a group of switches on above her. "Check oxygen and life support."

"Check." Tim replied.

"Guidance and piloting systems online." Kodansha grunted as she grappled with the controls.

"Right, I have the commander position, Tim keep your eye on the other stuff and Kodansha can do the steering." Liana smiled, bouncing childishly.

"So effectively you do nothing?" Kodansha smirked.

"Commanding stuffs is hard, you know." Liana sounded mildly offended.

"I'll be honest, Alex. I haven't got the pinkest idea how to drive this sub." Juri sighed. "Do you?"

"…Not really." Alex said after a moment.

"Dammit." The shadow hunter cursed. "Now what?" 

"Princess, can you drive this sub?" Alex asked.

"I'd like to think so. It's an Esthar one right? Should be a lot like a Centran craft." She nodded.

"Princess' are allowed to drive subs in Centrotia?" Juri asked.

"Not exactly." The Centran winked deviously.

Alex smiled, turning to Juri. "Okay, I'll take care of Carlie and monitor radio, you keep an eye on the engineering display for me."

"Gotcha." Juri clicked a few switches on the board and tapped a button. "According to the displays, air flow is stable, and pressure control engaged."

Liana came across the radio. "This is Team Juliet, all ready to go. How're you doing Romeo? Copy." Alex could hear the smile in her voice as she finished her sentence.

"Team Romeo here." He replied. "Prepare to release hydraulic clamps and hold onto something. Over."

"Why's that?" Her voice came back.

"Because we're about to plummet out of the bottom of the Kalevala on cables into the ocean. It might get rough." Alex informed her, fastening a belt around him. The other two copied as he secured Carlie.

"Right. Juliet out." Liana said before the radio cut.

"Okay guys, hold onto something." Alex smiled slightly.

The wind-swept rain howled across the sea like a mob of angry ghosts, wailing against the shiny, metallic surface of the Kalevala. On the underside of the huge hovering aircraft two small plates jutted out slightly from the fuselage before suddenly the two submersibles detached and plummeted toward the tempestuous waves below. The storm ravaged at them for a brief moment before they hit the surface and sank into the dark, quiet depths. Everything inside both subs was silent for a few seconds.

"Whee…" Liana said eventually. "Wasn't that fun?"

"Nyes, and we're still okay." Kodansha nodded. "Controls responding. Starting descent now."

Alex's voice came over Team Juliet's radio. "We made it. How're you? Over."

Liana grinned. "Feel like my stomach is in my head." She replied. "Apart from that, everything is fine over here. Descending now. Copy."

"Roger that, beginning descent at a depth of thirty five meters." Alex replied like a computer. "Maintain radio contact." He added lightly.

"Gotcha." Liana nodded.

The two submersibles sank into the depths of the sea, the thick blackness growing darker and darker. The powerful lights shone out, cutting a cone of light into the abyss. They continued to descend silently for some time, watching specks of dirt and ocean debris drift past.

"Depth at one thousand meters." Tim reported finally.

"Continue." Liana nodded slowly.

"Computer estimates another two thousand three hundred meters, approximately."

"Good. How's it going Team Romeo?" Liana leant over to the radio.

"We're just fine." Alex replied. "The Garden's signal is growing stronger."

"Well, guess we'll just have to wait. Anyone got Triple Triad cards?" Liana asked.

"I do." Alex's voice came, followed by a chuckle. "I'll play."

Liana sighed. "Typical, the only other person with cards is on the other sub." She laughed slightly, pausing for a moment to think of another way to liven things up. "Well, we could play a different game."

Kodansha sniggered. "How about 'I Spy'?" She said sarcastically.

Giving up, Liana rested on the back of the chair and began to twiddle her thumbs in boredom.

Occasional passive conversation broke up the hour as the subs continued to sink deeper. It felt like they were going into the center of the planet. 

Juri watched the featureless expanse of water, fascinated by it, in between checking the dials on pressure and depth. The Princess gazed out of the porthole nervously, anxiety of the mission eating away at her as she steered the craft's path. Alex sat dully, occasionally looking at Carlie's sleeping form, organising the thoughts in his mind.

As the silent and slow descent continued, Liana leant forward and tapped on the arm-rest of the chair restlessly. Tim read the depth guage, thankfull that they were almost there. Kodansha calmly guided the machine down ever closer to the seabed.

Suddenly the lights of the submersible caught a tall shape. As they got closer, it became apparent: a tall and elegant tower. As the subs backed away slightly, the outline of the huge Garden could be seen embedded into the ocean floor.

"This is the wierdest thing I have ever seen." Liana muttered slowly, gazing at the Garden she had only stood on a few days ago. As an ancient wreck.

"Gotcha, Team Juliet. Looking at it right now." Alex confirmed. "Proceed with docking to the airlocks on the port side."

 "Alrighty, docking at Airlock 2. Copy." She replied. 

"This is Kalevala." Xu announced. "Well done, guys. The storm up here is getting stronger, so be as quick as you can."

"Oh, I'm sure we won't be playing chess while we're down there." Kodansha muttered to herself sarcastically.

The two subs split apart to encircle the colossal wreck, that sat at a very slight angle, so only the four docking areas on the port side were accessible. As Team Juliet's sub approached the barnacle-encrusted Airlock 2, Team Romeo's sub arrived at the equally weathered Airlock 8.

"Beginning docking." Alex spoke softly.

"Pressure stable." Juri reported. "Currents are negligible."

"Slowing to point two throttle, course adjusting thrusters are responding." The Centran Princess smiled.

"You know this kinda stuff pretty well." Alex complimented, still looking at the docking camera like everyone else.

The Princess smiled silently, and continued to cautiously edge the sub closer to the clamps.

"This is Team Juliet." Liana's voice came. "Docking complete and ports are sealed. Copy."

"Good job Team Juliet. This airlock's looking a little unreliable, we're taking it slow." Alex filled in.

"Okay!" Liana said brightly.

"Good luck, we'll see you there. Team Romeo out." Alex said warmly, before switching off the radio.

They watched as the sub glided into the clamps and there was a groaning clunk noise, distorted by the ocean around to become more of a ghostly grinding.

"We're in." The Princess stated.

"Okay, close the clamps." Alex said to Juri quietly.

"Closing." As she spoke, she pressed the switch to activate the clamps that would hold the sub to the airlock. Suddenly there was a screaching sound of protesting metal.

"Clamps are secure, but I really didn't like the sound of that…" Juri looked behind them to the docking hatch.

"Let's hope it's nothing." Alex said, moving over to the hatch and beginning to turn it. As he did, Juri thought of a terrifying question:

"How do we know that the Garden isn't flooded on the other side?" She looked at Alex with wide eyes.

"We don't." Alex replied simply. "We just have to damn well hope it isn't."

She helped him carry on turning when suddenly the hatch flung open. A sudden light gush of sea water flowed in. As they looked out into the dim corridor beyond, lit by lights from the inside of the sub, they could see a split in the side of it that was letting water flow in.

"Let's get the hell out of this sub." Alex said in a calm but urgent voice, activating the twin torches perched on his shoulders.

"And fast!" The Princess agreed, wincing slightly as the freezing sea water crawled up her bare leg. She fastened on a set of twin torches and activated them too.

The three companions dragged themselves and Carlie from the sub, crossing the flooding and slightly tilted corridor to the stairs at the end that led to the infirmary. Alex turned around, Carlie on his back, and inspected the gash in the walls.

"Must've been a pressure imbalance caused when we docked or something." He hypothesised. "Unless we can contain it, it'll flood us before we can even reach the surface."

"What about the sub?" The Princess asked as they headed up a short set of steps to a dry room.

"I guess it's screwed until we can reach the surface and drain the garden." Juri assessed, looking back down the stairs to see the water rising up the bottom.

"And we'll be counting on Team Juliet for getting us outta here. Anyone get the radio?" Alex looked between the other two.

"Yeah, I grabbed it." Juri nodded. "We can still contact the other sub, right?"

"Hopefully. Juri, inform them of the situation. Their mission is now top priority."

Juri nodded, and picked up the radio to talk into it.

"Can't we just use their sub?" The Princess asked innocently. "I know it might be a bit of a squeeze, but…"

"Not really possible. There wouldn't be enough oxygen in one sub for the six of us, plus Carlie would hopefully be revived. That makes seven." Alex shook his head. "We're going up on the Garden or not at all."

"Oh man." Juri closed her eyes. "This is deep."

"Well we haven't exactly been going upward the last hour and a half." Alex smiled slightly, stepping into another dark corridor that lit up in the torch beams.

"No, I mean there's no response from the radio." Juri sighed. "I think it's got water in it or something, I dunno. It just isn't working… so now what?"

"One of us should go find them." Alex said eventually.

"Well, I think you should be able to take care of that!" Juri announced with a spark of enthusiasm.

"Yeah!" The Princess nodded. "Juri and I can go get Carlie to the computer center on third level."

"Right, that's fine by me." Alex handed Carlie over to Juri. "I'll meet you on third level." He said with a nod, before disappearing down the nearby corridor toward the center of the Garden.

"Good luck." Juri called lightly as he went.

Liana, Tim and Kodansha crept carefully through the remains of the Training Center. A set of steps led up a short rockface to the old part of the training center, which was at base level with the lobby. The metal shell of the huge Garden creaked and groaned with the slight disturbance of their presence. It was clear from the look on their faces that a large portion of their attention was fixated with the idea that, sooner or later, the water would find a way in.

"So where abouts would the generator have to go?" Kodansha asked as they began to ascend the stone steps to the upper area of the training center.

"The core; basement, level three." Liana replied with clear certainty.

"And where exactly is that?" She enquired further.

"Two floors down the central elevator shaft, which is in the lobby beyond the training center." The gunfighter pointed in the general direction.

"Hang on a sec, guys." Tim held up a hand to halt them. "Do you hear that sound?"

"I hoped the noise of running water was just my imagination, but yeah, I hear it." Kodansha said dryly.

"Doesn't that bother you? I know we might feel like we're in a comfy building, but we're still under about two miles of ocean."

"It's probably just the stream that runs through the training center." Liana pointed out.

Tim sighed and continued to ponderously climb the steps. "Well, I hope you're right. This wreck has remained undisturbed for nearly a thousand years, but the slightest movements inside it could cause it to flood."

The three of them jumped slightly to the sound of a shriek fairly close to them.

"What the blue hell was that?" Kodansha asked, her tone almost annoyed.

A large writhing vine-like tentacle appeared from the leaves, groping at Liana's leg. She immediately recoiled from it, and drew both her pistols as it disappeared again. The three ran around the rocky foliage outcrop into a clearing, to see Alex stood face to face with what looked like a gigantic grat.

"Hey Al, looks like you could use some help." Tim called out.

"Do as you wish, I won't need to depend on anybody." Alex replied as stubborn as usual. He took a sharp step backward as the Giant Grat swung a massive clawed tentacle at him. It passed him and headed for Tim, who lept aside, leaving the clumsy large radio where he'd stood. The tentacle went smashing into it.

"(Oh great.)" Alex thought to himself.

"Hold on, we're going in." Liana announced, drawing her two pistols. She let off several shots at the creature, that seemed to have little affect despite piercing it's flesh.

Suddenly, in a plume of sticky fluid and spores, the Giant Grat spat several pod-like seeds into the air that landed such that they encirled the four of them.

"What the hell are those things?" Tim asked nervously.

"Small grats are hatching out of them!" Liana pointed out.

"I'll handle it!" Tim called, running toward one and unleashing a furious fist combo at it.

Striking out at Alex and knocking him backward, the Giant Grat took the opportunity of the distraction to grope out with another tentacle, grabbing Kodansha by the legs and dragging her toward itself.

"Er, not today, plant." She said in an annoyed tone, drawing her short sword and sawing at the thick botanical limb.

"Hang in there!" Liana called out, running toward her friend. "Whoo, look at me, plant guy!" She ran past the SeeD ninja and shot at the Giant Grat from close range. It continued to slowly reel Kodansha in, unabated by the bullets that had lined its flesh.

"I don't think the bullets are cutting deep enough!" Liana suggested, cursing beneath her breath.

"Never mind that! Shoot the tentacle!" Kodansha called out, in an understandably impatient tone.

"Oh yeah!" Liana smiled a little as she swung her guns around and poured shots into the vine-like tentacle. Each bullet carved chunks from it until the creature immediately let go of the SeeD and withdrew it's wounded limb.

"Yeah, take that." Liana taunted, twirling her weapons and stepping over to Kodansha.

"Don't bother asking, let's just kick the rest of these grats shitless." Kodansha grunted as she got back on her feet.

Alex approached them with his gunblade drawn. "I think Tim's got them sorted, I'd worry about the big one. It's not dead just yet." He nodded in it's direction.

The two girls turned to see the Giant Grat had grown two more tentacles and began edging toward them.

"I've finished off the Grats." Tim announced.

"Nice." Kodansha nodded, keeping her eyes on the final creature.

"I may have to resort to a Limit Break." Alex muttered.

"What Limit Break do you have anyway?" Liana asked him quietly.

"Dark Shivalry. I learned it from an instructor in Trabia, a few other Trabian gunbladers might know it, but otherwise it's fairly rare." Alex replied, his voice calm and fast.

"Do you reckon you could pull it off?" Kodansha asked in a similar tone, taking a few steps backward as the large plant drew closer.

"Possibly." Alex said, as he and the other two began to copy Kodansha.

"I never really got what was wrong with Limit Breaks…" Tim asked.

"They're very unhealthy, because of the power you have to harness to perform one." Liana informed him.

"Well, we'll all be dead if we don't kill this thing." Kodansha pointed out.

"Actually, perhaps not. We can outrun it easily." Alex suggested.

"Yeah, but what about when we come back for the sub?" Tim asked.

"We won't." Alex announced. "Look, I'll explain later, but for now let's just get outta here."

"Gladly." Liana grinned, as they turned and ran for the training center exit. As they passed through it, Kodansha hit a button and a large steel door sealed the training center behind them.

"Ok, you got some explaining to do…" Liana turned to Alex with an expectant look.

"Romeo's sub is down. When we docked the airlock must've caused a leak and now the Garden is beginning to flood." He beckoned them around the corner and pointed to the water that was pouring out of the infirmary section and beginning to flood the ground of the lobby. The long-dry bed of the pool that's normally beneath the walkways was beginning to fill again. "We probably don't have a lot of time, but if we can reach the upper levels, we should make it. I came to inform you as our radio is out, meanwhile Juri and the Princess have gone to revive Carlie."

"Then our team's mission is now of most imporance." Kodansha summarised.

"Yes, if we don't raise this Garden soon it's gonna flood." Alex nodded.

"Well, we'd better get a move one. If the water reaches the elavator shaft it'll pour into the basement levels where the generators are. I don't think they'll be able to handle that." Liana said worriedly.

"The generator will be fine, provided it's fitted and running when it gets flooded." Tim said. "Odine's generator is prepared for it, but you won't be able to fit it if the basement get's flooded."

"Then let's get the hell over there!!" Liana urged.

Juri and the Princess walked into the third level section. The large dome viewscreen presented a view of the deep darkness of the ocean. As they entered the room, a sensor light on one of the consoles activated and a voice echoed around the room. What it said was not clear, but it sounded like a question.

"Carlie… ?" Juri enquired carefully.

There was a brief silence. Suddenly the voice came again, it's word just about recognisable:

"Release." It said monotonously.

"That's not Carlie's voice." Juri commented.

"I know, but they're Carlie's words." The Princess stated, before turning her voice to the room. "Carlie, is that you?"

"Release." It repeated.

"Let's just get her out of there." Juri said eventually.

"Right." The Princess nodded. Standing in front of the command console, she gestured Juri to bring Carlie's body over. The shadow hunter placed the un-conscious body of her friend before the Centran and stepped back to observe. Slowly the Princess began to chant some kind of Centran phrase, a long string of awkward syllables spoken so softly that if they were any quieter she would not have said anything at all.

In a sudden and bright flash several glowing globes of energy flew from the computer console and into Carlie, like the spectacle of a 'Draw' from something. As they shot inside her, she flinched slightly, all the muscles in her body momentarily activated. Slowly she rolled her head to the side and opened her eyes sluggishly.

"Br… b-bright." Carlie stuttered.

The Princess turned off their shoulder-torches, so only the red emergency lighting illuminated the room. Carlie slowly sat up dazed.

"Carlie… are you okay?" Juri asked her.

"Why do you call me by telephone? What is Carlie? It sounds familiar…" She replied slowly.

"It's alright." The Princess assured Juri. "Amnesia and temporary confusion is very common with this procedure. She's been asleep for a thousand years inside a computer and she will feel very disorientated for a while."

"Liana." Carlie said hopefully. "Liana is my friend. Are you Liana? You don't look like her, she is ten foot tall."

"Can you even hear me?" Juri shook her head sadly.

"Oh, yes. Sorry, forgive the turtles for their rudeness. You must be Alex."

"How long will she be like this?" Juri turned to the Princess. "It's like she's been hit with a confuse spell."

"Only an hour or so, then she'll feel better." The Centran replied. 

"It's best we stay here anyway, the water will flood third level last." Juri nodded.

The Princess grinned slightly, then chuckled. "I've noticed humans have a talent for stating the obvious."

Juri laughed. "Well, I guess it's not always obvious to us."

"Heeey… aren't the marshmellow trees getting smaller?" Carlie interrupted.

The elevator reached the depths of the Garden's lower levels, and as the doors slid open Liana, Alex, Kodansha and Tim stepped out into the dark chamber. In the middle of the room was a large machine with a seat at it's center. A deformed and weathered skeleton was entrenched into it. The skeleton was clearly not human; it was much bigger and it seemed the creature had died on the chair.

"What's that?" Alex asked, repulsed.

"The old Garden Master, Norg. When Cid and Norg fought each other three years ago, Squall and his party ended the conflict by defeating Norg." She informed him. "I remember I sided with Cid at the time."

"Lucky for you, I guess." Kodansha nodded.

"The skeleton is obviously over a thousand years old now, though…" Liana added, gazing at the web-infested remains.

"The mission, people?" Alex said expectantly, hurrying past.

"Well, you were the one that asked." Liana smiled, following after him in a slight skip.

They reached a large circular hatchway in the floor. Like many of the Garden's hatchways, it had a water-tight sealing mechanism controlled by a large wheel protruding in the middle. Alex stooped over it and, gripping the wheel with both hands, began to try and loosen it. It failed to budge.

"Kodansha, help me with this." He grunted.

With a nod the SeeD ninja grabbed the wheel firmly and heaved at it. With a slow grinding sound, the wheel began to turn.

"That's it, you're doing it!" Liana said excitedly, pressing her finger against the wheel occasionally in an attempt to increase the effort. "Common, Tim, help us too."

Tim obliged with a nod, when suddenly the hatchway made a clunk sound. Alex and Kodansha lifted the door to reveal the dark, dry interior.

"Whew, I'm so glad it's not flooded!" Liana sighed happily.

At that very moment there was a loud crash and the sound of running water came from behind them. Turning to the direction it was coming from, they saw water pouring down the elevator shaft and through the glass elevator doors.

"Let's get that generator fitted and get the spooney out of here." Kodansha urged.

                   *                                     *                                     *

"Laguna!" Kiros cried out. "I've got some bad news…"

"What?" The Esthar president turned to his friend and aide.

"It's that Centrotia island. We fortified the south-west side of the city, but they're attacking us from the opposite side! Esthar's Airfleet scouts spotted them approaching, they'll reach the edge of the city in about thirty minutes."

"Damn! That's not nearly enough time to move our defenses across a city this huge. Get them going anyway, and recall the 22nd division to the Palace!"

"Understood. Do you want me to send a distress signal to Kalevala?"

"Just tell them our situation." Laguna nodded. "We'll also have to suspend the Esthar Council under cause of emergency."

"Got it."

"Oh, and make sure the citizens take shelter. This could get very deadly…"

                   *                                     *                                     *

Annie sighed in frustration. There was no response from the radio once again, and Xu's concern was filtering it's way down to her. The two sub teams ceased contact after the docking, and worries were building up over the safety of the people that had risked their lives taking this mission.

"We've lost contact with all radio units." Annie reported.

Xu nodded, assimilating the information slowly. "Still no response from Team Juliet?"

"None." Annie shook her head.

"It's most likely that team Romeo are still fine and simply lost their radio unit." Nida suggested, resting his chin on his curled hand thoughtfully. "And possibly Team juliet at a later time."

"Let's hope that is the case." Xu stood, putting a hand on her hip.

She suddenly turned to see a young man that had just walked into the cockpit.

"Oh, Amardus? What are you doing up here?" Xu asked curiously.

"I want to organise a rescue mission. They could be trapped down there." He replied passionately. "We've gotta act."

"Y'know, Amardus is right; they might not be able to get back without our help." Annie added.

"That's not the issue." Xu reminded them. "We have only one more sub, and it requires at least two people to operate it. If the teams truly have lost the subs then the rescuers will need to take up a total of nine people. Our sub's have enough space and oxygen for four. It's simply not an option."

Nida sighed. "She's correct. We don't exactly *have* any options."

"Can't this thing… um, sink?" Annie asked, exasperated.

"Submerging the Kalevala isn't a good idea, Esthar ships don't take to it too well." Nida explained.

Kiros' voice abruptly came over the radio. "Kalevala this is Esthar. We are under attack from Centrotia, and request any assistance you can give."

Annie looked to Xu, who hesitated for a moment. She had to make a very difficult choice. Kalevala was Esthar's greatest aircraft, and to have it sitting over the ocean in vain hope of six lost people when it is most needed to defend thousands would be foolish. But if the Kalevala left for Esthar, it would be dooming those six people, and Esthar could possibly survive without them. Besides, Carlie's answers will be worth many more lives if what the Princess says is true.

"Kalevala, do you copy?" Kiros said again.

Xu stood and hit a button on a panel just above her to activate the radio. "This is Xu, currently in command of the Kalevala, reporting negative. We are unable to respond."

"Understood, Esthar out." The disappointment in Kiros' voice was apparent even over the radio. Xu pressed the button again to de-activate it, then looked around the airship's cockpit.

"We aren't going to give up on them yet." She said firmly.

                   *                                     *                                     *

Tim cursed slightly, shaking his hand in the pain.

"Wassup?" Liana asked.

The soldier grimaced, looking back into the depths of the generator coupler. "Just sliced my finger on the power drive coupling matrix. That thing's sharp." He grunted.

"I see." Liana stared blankly.

"What do the instructions say next?" Kodansha asked.

"Uh…" Alex looked at the datapad. "It says 'Reconnect ze first port into ze relay socket, then ze generator should activate'."

"Easy." Tim smiled slightly, suddenly looking worried as the sound of running water grew closer. As if from nowhere, a gush of seawater swept across the floor, engulfing their feet. With haste Tim clicked the plug in and without a moment's delay, Odine's backpack-sized battery generator sprung to life.

"That's allowed the fusion reactor to restart." Tim stated, as lights around the Garden began to come on. "Which'll give us enough power to reach the surface and maybe a bit more."

"Okay, now all we have to do is get to third level!" Alex said urgently.

Juri rushed over to the computer which had suddenly sprung to life. "Look, the other team have restored the power!"

"Nice!" The Princess nodded happily.

"What does that mean?" Carlie, who had by now recovered from most of her muddled thoughts, was still somewhat bemused.

"It means we finally have a chance of getting out of here." Juri informed her with a beaming smile. She looked over the control console, and her expression quickly changed to uncertainty.

"Hurry Juri, begin the Garden's ascent!" The Princess urged.

"I, um… I don't know how." She shrugged. "It's all Shumi to me."

"The Princess ran up to it and looked over the controls." Well I don't know either, I don't wanna hit the wrong button. Gyah, if only Fire Ceremony was here, he's probably the only Centran I can think of that could pilot a Shumi vessel."

"It's easy." Carlie smiled, walking up to a large fin-like lever on the main controls, pushing it slowly upward. A deep rumbling grew louder in co-ordinance with the higher Carlie pushed the control. Eventually it reached it's peak and from the main viewport they could see the Garden was levelling off from it's slight tilt and had begun to rise. The seabed disappeared into the murky depths as the machine began to make it's way slowly to the surface.

"See?" She smiled brightly.

Alex waded through the water that had reached his waist and turned at the end of the corridor to see the other three approaching.

"Quick, through here." He indicated a sloped doorway at the top of a few steps.

With a nod Kodansha and Tim passed him and hurried up through the hatchway to the stairway that led to the upper levels. Alex turned to see Liana making her way toward them through the cold seawater.

"Wait up, guys!" She called out.

"Sure, we're not going anywhere." Alex smiled. Without warning there was a shudder and the Garden levelled off from it's tilt suddenly.

"The Garden must've lifted off the seabed at last." Tim said, looking up to the sudden sound of a crash. "Uh-oh, Alex, there's water pouring in up here from the-" His voice was cut off completely as the huge steel door of the hatchway slammed shut, sealing Alex and Liana inside it.

"Tim? Kodansha?" Alex called out as Liana reached him. "Hey, open the door!" He called, pressing against it. "Damn, they probably can't even hear me through this thing."

"What the hell is going on?" Liana asked.

"I don't know or care. Right now, we've just got to get out of this corridor." Alex replied, pressing against the walls as the water continued to rise.

"Eeegh, it's soo cold…" Liana said, rubbing her hands together.

"Quick, head back down the corridor and turn right, I think there's a passage that leads to the elevator shaft. From there we should be able to climb the maintenance ladder to the third level." Alex explained.

"Right, let's go then!" Liana had already begun to make her way back through the water that was creeping ever further up. As they turned the corner, a door at the end of the passage was slowly closing automatically.

"We won't get to it in time!" Liana shook her head, pointing at it.

"You're right. We're running out of options here." Alex slammed his fist into the wall, as he often did when frustrated.

"Wait…" Liana waded over to the side of the corridor. "The water is flowing out of the side of this passage, but I can't see where. Look, watch the current." She suddenly dipped underwater for a moment, re-emerging a moment later. She took a breath and brushed her wet hair from her eyes.

"Did you see what it was?" Alex asked curiously.

Liana nodded. "There's a small entry to the air ducts. Water's flooding it fast, but I think it's probably the only way out now."

Alex exhaled deeply. "I didn't want to have to go underwater, as I'm useless at swimming and can't see underwater for shit. But I guess we don't have a choice."

"Guess not…" Liana affirmed. They both took deep breaths before disappearing into the dark seawater.

                   *                                     *                                     *

The storm outside the Kalevala seemed to have gotten impossibly worse. It was causing the radio to play up more, and Xu was using the event as an excuse to herself and everyone else that there might still be someone alive down there.

A flash of lightning illuminated the cockpit for a split second, lighting up the tension and concern in the faces of it's occupants. Xu cleared her throat to respectfully attract attention.

"They have been down there for almost three hours now…" She said. "Annie, has there been any change in radio or radar situations?"

"Still nothing." She sighed.

Xu hung her head. "We leave for Esthar in half an hour, unless we have reason to believe they're still down there."

"…yes ma'am." Annie said eventually, turning back to the radar screen. "(Come on, guys!)" she pleaded silently.

                   *                                     *                                     *

Liana broke the surface and took a sharp breath, shaking her head to get some of the water off. She looked around, suddenly realising Alex wasn't here.

"Alex?" She said quietly.

There was a splash as Alex reached the surface, gasping for air.

"There you are! Don't scare me like that…" Liana smiled, happy to see that the water around them was only waist deep.

Alex caught his breath, blinking several times to clear the water from his eyes. "How inconsiderate of me." He smiled slightly.

Liana grinned, before suddenly exploding with happiness as she spotted something. "Look! It's the maintenance ladder!!" She cried. "We're outta here!"

"Excellent!" Alex cracked his knuckles together. 

The mood was suddenly dampened as the low rumbling sound of more water grew closer.

"What's that?" Liana asked in a tone of equal bemusement and irritation.

"Water." Alex said dryly.

"Headed this way?"

"Sounds like it."

Without a word more, they both ran straight for the opening into the elevator shaft. As they reached it, Liana turned to see a wave of seawater churning down the corridor ferociously.

"Hurry, up the ladder!" Alex urged. Liana rounded the corner and grabbed onto the ladder. As she started to climb the elevator shaft, the flow of water reached the hatchway, pushing Alex through. He grappled the ladder desperately, dragging himself up as the water level in the shaft began to rise slowly.

"What the spooney was that noise?" Kodansha asked.

"It's coming from the elevator shaft." Tim responded. "Sounds quite a way down. Some kind of heavy water flow."

"I'll take a look." Juri responded. "You guys stay here with Carlie." She quickly hurried to the entrance room for the third level, taking a look out of the windows into the huge main hall of the Garden. Water lapped against the walkway between the elevator and the classrooms on second level. As the shadow hunter reached the entrance to the shaft, she peered down it to see Liana and Alex climbing the ladder with water sloshing around far beneath them. Suddenly, Juri noticed something which caused her eyes to widen in alarm.

"Hurry!" She called. "The glass wall of the shaft is gonna get crushed by the water in the hallway!"

The two SeeD looked around them to see the cracks appearing in the glass. Around them the water that filled the main hallway up to the classroom level was still a dozen or so meters higher than they were. Without a further moment's hesitation, they continued climbing up the ladder as fast as possible. Slowly the cracks in the glass grew as Kodansha and the others ran up beside Juri.

"Damn, can't we do something?" The Princess said desperately.

"Like what?" Kodansha shook her head.

"They're not gonna make it!" Juri said nervously.

Both SeeD continued to ascend the ladder as quickly as they could. Liana reached the outside water level and continued to climb, turning to the sound of cracking glass. A jet of water sprayed into the shaft, pinning Alex harshly against the ladder. Ascending a few more rungs to safety, Liana reached down with an open hand.

"Grab my hand, quick!" She yelled.

Under the onslaught of gushing seawater, Alex reached up as more glass gave way and the flow increased. As their hands almost touched fingertips the entire glass wall of the elevator shaft collapsed, and water engulfed the gunblader. In a furious swirl Alex's hand disappeared, dragged down by the water's merciless grasp.

"Liana, get out of there." Tim called.

Liana looked at the water cascading into the shaft. Could anything possibly survive it? The walls had collapsed letting several tons of seawater break in, and surely anything inside would be crushed. She sat holding onto a rung with one arm, watching intently.

Sure enough, a trembling hand broke the surface of the water flowing in, grasping the rung above the water level with a determined grip. Alex dragged himself back up the ladder slowly, and clasped Liana's outstretched hand.

"Let's move." He barely managed a smile, as she helped pull him out of the water flow.

As the two battered SeeD reached the top, the seven of them sat down to take a short rest.

Juri caught her breath. "Glad to see you made it."

"What's the situation?" Alex asked, reverting to the subject once again like a true SeeD.

"The extra water we're taking on is slowing our ascent." Tim sighed. "At our current rate we won't reach the surface before we're flooded. We need to buy some time, somehow." He pondered.

Liana turned her head to them. "We sealed off the training area, right? It might still be dry. There should be enough volume in there to slow the flooding a lot, don't ya think?" She suggested brightly, wiping water from her brow.

"Nice idea… but how do we open the doors?" Alex pointed out. "Manually?"

"There's no automatic switch." Tim stated, being the present authority on the structure and layout of Balamb Garden. "So that would be the only way, yes."

"You telling me some fuckwit has to dive all the way to the bottom of the flooded hallway, open the training center doors and somehow get away before the suction drags them through it?" Kodansha ran over the plan that seemed to be forming in the minds of her companions.

"Well volunteered." The Princess smiled.

"What?" Kodansha protested. "What about you, you've got gills, don't you?" The SeeD ninja pointed to the frilly openings beneath the Centran's ears.

"They *aren't* gills…" The Princess scowled. "They're the precise reason Centrans are completely terrified of water! It's like having a mouth you can't close…"

"Well, Liana would know how that feels." Kodansha smirked.

"Hey!" Liana objected.

"Look, we're gonna drown here if someone doesn't do this!" Alex interrupted. "And you all know I'm a useless swimmer." He added.

"What about the getting-dragged-in problem?" Juri asked.

"There's a small stash of weapons and explosives near the bridge, for boarding emergencies." Tim said thoughtfully. "We could lay explosives on the door and set them off from up here."

"Right." Juri nodded. "Well I'm a reasonable swimmer, I believe I could do it." She announced confidantly.

"Then let's get to it." Alex nodded, standing.

"Um…" Carlie said, having kept silent so far. "Can I just say something?"

"Yes?" Liana encouraged.

"It's great to be back again!" She smiled tearfully.

Everyone, even Kodansha, smiled warmly.

Juri broke the surface of the water elegantly, her long hair straightened and wet. She blinked the water from her eyes, gasping for air.

"It's ready." She panted as she made her way to the rope the others had dangled from the third level.

"Got it." Tim nodded. As Juri grabbed onto the rope, he pressed a button to activate the explosives. A deep rumble was followed a moment later by the shuddering of the entire Garden. A plume of water rose from the corner of the hallway some distance from them, and suddenly the water level began to drop drastically. Juri clung to the rope as the others dragged it to the top. As she got there, she fell to the floor in relief and exhaustion.

"Whoo, you did it." Liana grinned.

"Nice." Tim nodded.

"Cool. So… how long now?" Kodansha asked.

"Well, we'll be reaching the surface in twenty minutes or so." Carlie reported.

"That's a relief." Alex sighed, pausing to take everything in. Eventually he smiled and looked up. "Anyone for cards?"

                   *                                     *                                     *

Annie glumly banked the Kalevala to change it's heading to Esthar, ditching the two cables that attached to the team's subs. If only it wasn't now. Why did they have to need Kalevala now? She wanted to stay, make sure every last hope was seen through. But it was a luxury they could not afford.

Suddenly her attention was drawn to something. A large blip appeared on the radar, directly beneath them and rising quickly.

"Xu, ma'am. There's something rising! It has to be them!" She cried out happily.

"Give us a good view." Xu requested. Without a moment of deliberation Annie pivotted the gigantic airship around to look at the sea it had been sitting over. Suddenly a grand blue spire broke the waves, rising like a pheonix. It pushed itself wholey out of the water, and the sea ran from it's insides like a bleeding heart, pouring back into the ocean. The rain swept across the sea around them more peacefully now. Balamb Garden hovered before them, as the azure sunlight of the dawn lit the horizon gloriously.

"They made it! Alright!!" Annie beamed.

"Get us over there, they're gonna need support to get back to Fisherman's Horizon." Xu instructed, her relief written in her expression.

"Aye ma'am!" Annie affirmed cheerfully.

                   *                                     *                                     *

Alex could see Carlie was about to speak, but intervened a moment before she did. 

"…And *then* you can get rested and tell us what this was all about. And not a moment sooner." He smiled, watching the Kalevala approach them through the huge viewing dome of the Garden's bridge.

Carlie grinned. "Alright, I'll let you have it your way. I feel in debt to you all."

"What you did was very special Carlie." Liana commended. " We are all in your debt for the sacrifice you made."

Alex nodded, and quiet fell as he inspected his Twin Mithril. "Hmm, this seawater has really screwed my gunblade up." He noted.

"My pistols don't seem to healthy either." Liana added, clicking the triggers with a disturbing grinding noise. "They'll be better when they dry out, right?" she asked optimistically.

"No, the parts need to be individually cleaned." Tim verified. "We can stop by at the weapons shop in Esthar later."

"Not for my gunblade." Alex shook his head, then smiled. "Looks like I might be going back to Trabia after all. You see, there's only one person who can fix a Twin Mithril, and that's Deux…"


End file.
